On The Other Side: Total Desperation
by GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor
Summary: Blood, guns, and drugs! You've never seen YYH like this! Rhea Sarama has debts to pay, a sister to raise, and a deadbeat father to keep in line. So goes her life until a nosy little fox interferes, for better or worse. Kurama x The OC that renders Mary Sues obsolete.
1. Total Desperation Part 1

_My face hit the cement floor and my body followed._

_"Get up, you little shit!"_

_I tried to lift my body but someone's foot came stomping down on my back. My arms gave in and I collapsed back to the ground. I felt blood trickle down my face and tasted it in my mouth._

_"I _said_ get _up_!" someone took up my hair and yanked me back into a seated position. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming out in agony. My vision was blurred by pain so I stared straight ahead trying to keep as quiet as possible unless addressed._

_"Takeshi! That's enough," another man's voice came from behind us. I was thrown back to the ground. The man spat at me and backed away grumbling to himself. "Stand up, girl," my rescuer ordered calmly._

_I struggled to stand but eventually was able to pick myself up. I wiped the blood I spat out away from my mouth and turned to face the man addressing me._

_"What's your name?"_

_I tried to look up at him but my head was in so much pain I wasn't even sure it was fully attached, "Rhea Sarama."_

_"Sarama, huh? Is your scumbag of a father sending his children to do his dirty work now?"_

_"No, sir."_

_"Then what?" he started to sound irritated._

_"I made the decision to bring the money he owes you on my own, sir."_

_He chuckled, "Now why would you do something like that?"_

_"To get my sister back… sir."_

_He grabbed my chin and lifted my head violently to look him in the face. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie. His hair was nicely slicked back and held a cigar in his free hand, "Do you know who I am, child?"_

_"Tatsuhiro… by dad's boss."_

_He erupted into laughter and released my chin, "How old are you?"_

_"Almost fourteen."_

_"Katsurou, bring the little girl in here," he ordered another man in the warehouse. "Where's the money kid?" I stuck my hand into my bra and pulled out a huge wad of bills. I shakily held it out to the man. He gently took the money from me and counted it, "This is almost a kilo's worth. Where did you get all this money, Young Sarama?"_

_"I sold the marijuana my dad was supposed to sell," I confessed._

_"How long did it take you?"_

_"Three days."_

_Tatsuhiro started laughing again, "No shit."_

_"Rhea!" I heard my sister cry and I snapped out of the daze my injuries had put me in._

_"Well, that perked you right up," Tatsuhiro mused to himself and made a quick gesture over his shoulder. The man who had brought my sister released her. She ran to me and hugged my waist tight. I didn't respond to her, I just watched Tatsuhiro as carefully as I could._

_Another man brought a bag up to Tatsuhiro and they exchanged words softly. The man threw the bag at my feet and walked away. "Sell it. You have a week. I expect to have 500,000 yen* by Wednesday at eleven pm. Don't come any sooner or later or you'll be killed," Tatsuhiro ordered to me._

* * *

I groaned and glared up at the clock of Meiou High School. _Well, here goes another week of Hell._ I shifted my messenger bag over my shoulder and started dragging my feet on campus as the clock rang the hour out. I hadn't gotten ten feet in the door before the dean eyed me and started towards me in a b-line. _Shit, not you again,_ I groaned and started wondering to the left of the hallway hoping to avoid him.

"Miss Sarama!" he boomed from behind me.

I sighed and turned around, "Yo, Mr. Dean."

"I thought we settled this uniform issue," he barked. A group of gossipy freshmen girls cocked their heads back. The man they were previously preoccupied with coughed into his hand and the girls snapped their attention back to him.

"Yeah, I did too," I turned back to the dean. "What's the problem now? They're even form fitting."

The dean sighed and snatched my bag from me. _Oh, shit!_ "Fine," I growled. He gestured for me to follow him to his office. He tossed a red, frilly female uniform at me and then my book bag. I kept my face in a deathly glare. _Oh, thank god!_

"Bring that abomination of a uniform back to me after you change in the bathroom across the hall," he demanded.

I groaned in response but silently, and slowly, went to go do what I was told. I shut the bathroom stall door and locked it behind me. "Fuck you, you son of a bitch," I grumbled as I slid off the magenta pants. I then took off the matching jacket that I had altered to fit my girly figure. I put on the red pleated skirt and jacket and dragged myself back out to the hall. Sure enough, the dean was waiting for me at his office door. I handed him my male uniform and gave him one last glare, "You won't get away with this."

"Why can't you just follow the rules?" he sighed.

"Because then you wouldn't have a job," I retorted sarcastically as I started down the hall.

I strolled into my classroom and sat down in the desk closest to the door. "Nice to see you finally join us, Miss Sarama," the teacher greeted sarcastically.

I refused to acknowledge her. I pulled out a notebook and pencil from my bag. _That's right, bitch. You have to endure me another week. _This was my second year at Meiou High School. I came to this school last year with a bad attitude, and I was probably going to graduate with one too.

When the bell rang to release the students from first period, I left the classroom with the intention of not coming back. I started heading out of the school but turned on my heel when I realized I wasn't wearing _my_ uniform. _Guess I'll have to stay until old Deany leaves. _I headed towards the roof of the school.

I pushed through the fire-safe door and was automatically blinded by the late morning sunlight. I heard the clank of the chain-link fence enclosing the rooftop and snapped my head in the direction it came from. A student with long red hair swung his leg over the fence and paused to analyze his balance.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I yelled at him. _If he jumps, I'll get blamed for it!_

He looked over at me with a surprised look and quickly jumped back down to the rooftop, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he smiled innocently.

"Where you trying to commit suicide or some shit?" I scolded the freshman.

He laughed nervously, "Not exactly."

I rolled my eyes and tossed my book bag to the ground. I lit up a cigarette and looked over the guy again.

"That'll kill you, you know," he teased as he walked a little ways away from the fence.

"Look who's talking," I hissed and sat down against the fence. _Weirdo._

He looked back down at me with a pensive face for a moment then turned towards the door to go back inside, "I should get back to class." He smiled innocently and waved.

"Later," I replied halfheartedly before the door closed behind him.

* * *

I heard the dean lock his office and waited until his footsteps vanished before emerging from the bathroom. _Alright, let's make this quick._ I pulled out a bobby-pin and nail file from my bag and quickly picked the lock on the door and went inside, closing the door quietly behind me. I slinked over to the desk and opened the drawer containing my uniform. _This is getting old, Deany, _I mused to myself as I closed the drawer. I felt a tingle up my spine and snapped my head back to the door.

The redhead from the rooftop was standing in the doorway with a small mischievous grin, "Stealing from the dean now, are we?"

I let out a sarcastic laugh as he closed the door behind him. _How did I not hear him open the door? _"More like taking back what belongs to me," I slid on the pants under the skirt. His face showed that he was curious and amused by the two uniforms. "What are _you_ doing here?" I hissed as I slid off the frilly, pleated red skirt so I was just wearing my pink, boot-cut pants.

"I had a feeling someone was doing something illegal so I decided to check it out," he mused.

I started unbuttoning my red jacket, "What, are you Batman now?" He let out a small chuckle. _Okay freshie, now you're getting on my nerves._ I turned away from him and started unbuttoning the white shirt underneath the jacket. The tie I never properly put on fell to the floor, "So what are you gonna do about me breaking the rules?"

I could sense him shift from across the room, "I haven't decided yet. It's obvious that the male uniform you're putting on has been altered so I'm assuming it's yours."

"Yes," I replied calmly as I let the shirt drop to the floor exposing my naked back and the back of my black bra to him. My long, black hair covered most of my back. I heard the door open and close and I let out a laugh as I quickly put on the male white shirt. _That was easy._ I threw on the pink jacket, not bothering to zip it up, and stuffed the female uniform in my bag and looked around the room. I locked the inside of the door and went over to the window. I threw my bag over my shoulder and used the window as an exit making sure to close it behind me. _Just in case Batman is waiting in the hall to turn me in._

* * *

I walked into my apartment and threw my bag on the kitchen counter, "Neema, I'm home," I called out into the dark apartment. I headed for the porch to open the blinds, "Dad, did you pick up?" There was no response. I lit up a cigarette and flicked on the light for the family room. _It's too quiet…_

I heard papers blowing in my little sister's room and a sudden uneasy chill filled my body. I tossed the cigarette into the ash tray and bolted for the door to her bedroom and flung it open. I heard the doorknob break into the drywall. There was a giant box on the bed with a note taped to it. The bedroom window was fully open and my eyes drew my body directly to the fire escape. I looked down to verify that it had been used and not put back. Terror rang through my body and I felt frozen in my place. _They took her! _I snatched up the note:

Sarama,

You have until Wednesday at the usual time to bring me my money. If I do not receive ¥300,000 by midnight on Wednesday, your sister will die a very unfortunate death.

-Tatsuhiro & Co.

"DAD! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" the note was in my pocket and I was marching towards his bedroom door. I knew it would be locked. His privacy didn't matter anymore. I kicked in the door sending pieces of wood around the latch everywhere. I watched him bolt up in his bed looking as torn up as ever and heard feminine moans amongst the wrestling under the sheets. "You're pathetic," I hissed and shoved the note into his hands.

After he read it he looked up at me innocently, "I had no idea they would do this…" he trailed off shakily. His body began to tighten and life started to leave his beady eyes. He was overdosing on some drug.

I was too used to this by now. I calmly went back to the kitchen and got a penicillin filled syringe out of the refrigerator and headed back to his room. By now the two hookers were hastily getting dressed. I locked the door and gave them a death glare that froze them in mid-motion. My father was sprawled out over the bed having a full on seizure. I ripped off the cap and tested the syringe.

_I'm taking too long. Get on with it woman!_ I lunged over to my father and drove the syringe into his chest and pushed all the liquid into his body. I tossed the empty syringe aside and opened the bedside table drawer and pulled out a M1911 pistol and turned to aim it at the two whores who were trying to unlock the door. "You won't leave this apartment alive with that 150,000 yen," I growled as I took the gun off safety. My voice almost startled me with its death-threatening tone. One of the girls peed herself as they looked back to me. "That money my screw-up father paid you actually belongs to me. I suggest you give it back," I cocked the gun and placed my index finger on the trigger.

"Please don't kill us!" the girl drenched in her own excrete began to cry. I felt strangely unaffected by her sobs. I felt cold and heartless with a one track mind.

The other girl quickly pulled a wad of money from her bra and held it out to me, "Here! Take it! Just please put the gun away!" she pleaded with a shaky voice.

I took a step forward, the gun in my hand never wavering, "Count it out to me," I growled. I felt like a completely different person, like I was being possessed by something strange. Total desperation.

"One thousand, two thousand, three," the girl started counting without hesitation, "fourteen, and fifteen thousand." She held out the money to me again, "It's all here, please let us go!"

I snatched the money out of her hand and tucked it into my own bra, the safest place to store small valuables. "Now, get out and never speak of this to anyone, you cheap sluts," I paused, "Or I _will_ come after you." With that the girls ran out of the apartment never looking back.

I put the gun back on safety and turned to face my father who was now calm and breathing slowly while blinking up at the ceiling. "Now look what you've done," I sighed with exhaustion and tucked the gun into the back of my pants.

"What… happened?" he squeezed out in a raspy voice.

"It'd make me sick to recite back everything you've done to this family today," I hissed as I opened another drawer and pulled out a pair of metal handcuffs. "I'm going to have to put you under house arrest until I finish fixing _your_ mistakes."

He looked over at me questioningly. I was confident in my reflexes and grabbed up his arm and handcuffed it, bringing the notches as close to his huge wrists as possible. He tried to squirm away but couldn't. I assume it was because of the hardcore drugs coursing through his body. I strung the other side of the cuffs through his headboard and wrestled with him to get his other wrist cuffed. When I finally had him cuffed to the bed I backed off and headed for the door.

"Wait," he called out and I glared back at him, "What if I have to use the restroom?" he pleaded.

"Maybe you'll think about that the next time you try to rip off the mafia," I said heartlessly before closing the door on the way out.

I grabbed up the box of drugs, cordless phone, the note, and the 150,000 yen and spread them all out on the table. _Damn, where's that address book?_ I dug through the kitchen drawers and brought it to the table. _God, I _love_ my job, _I thought sarcastically

The rest of the night was spent making phone calls and running around the city selling opium. By one a.m. I had only racked up 50,000 yen. I crashed on my bed and felt tears swell up in my eyes for fear of what the Tatsuhiro gang was currently doing to my eleven year old sister. I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

The alarm clock next to my bed went off and I threw it against the wall to silence it. I jumped in the shower and got dressed in the female uniform I received yesterday. _Today's not a day to mess with authorities, _I grimaced to myself. I snatched up my untouched school bag, the 200,000 yen, and an eight-ball* I had weighed out in advance. The money was secured inside my bra and the eight-ball went into a pocket on the inside of my red jacket. _Just in case, _I mused to myself.

When I reached the classroom, my teacher decided to call me out, before class even started. "Why, Miss Sarama! You're following the rules today."

I made no verbal acknowledgement. A grin played out on my face as I walked away from her and to my desk. I replied by flipping up the back of my skirt to reveal black booty shorts. A girl to my left snickered at my crude action.

"Miss Sarama! That's completely inappropriate!" the teacher screamed, her face in complete horror. I set my book bag down on the top of my desk and turned to her with a glare. I thought about saying something demeaning but decided not to bother. I picked up my book bag and started towards the door. "Where are you going?" she demanded.

"I've got better things to do than let the likes of you tell me how I should dress," I insulted with acid in my voice as I slammed the classroom door shut behind me. The bell rang out telling the teachers to start class. I sighed taking in the mostly empty hallways. A few students rushed past me to get to their classes. I was leaving mine before it even started. _Fuck these people._

I found myself against the fence on the school roof. I sighed and lit a cigarette. _I need to be selling these drugs anyways,_ I grimaced to myself. _What if I can't sell it all by tomorrow night? I've already exhausted my usual customers… What do I do? Dammit, my little sister's life is in my hands and I only have a day and a half left to save her… _I felt tears forming in my eyes and took a long drag on my cigarette. Before long I felt the tears escape the confines of my eyelids. _...Neema…_

I heard the door to the roof open and snapped my head up. _Great…_

The redhead who was such a nuisance the day before spotted me and walked over cautiously. "You must have no desire to educate yourself," he greeted lightheartedly. I watched as his face changed as he got closer.

I snickered, "I'm third in my grade. I don't think skipping will affect me much."

His face lifted a little, "You're third in the entire grade?" he asked a little surprised.

"It doesn't matter," I waved off.

He sat down and started studying me, "What's bothering you?"

_You! You creepy mother fucker!_ I looked over to him with frustration, "What's it to you?"

He resigned himself a little, "You're crying," he stated the obvious.

"It's none of your concern," I hissed and sat up balancing on my heels.

He placed his hand around my wrist and I glared at him. "Maybe I can help," he offered gently.

"Ha, I doubt it," I retorted and fell back resting against the fence again.

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge," he looked at me intently.

I sighed, "Why do you care?"

"Is it wrong to care?"

I rested my head against my knee in defeat. "You barely know me," I pointed out.

"Should that make a difference?"

"Yes."

"I'm still concerned," he retorted.

I looked over to him, "I don't think you can handle it."

He gave me a small grin, "Try me."

"Okay," I sighed again. "A year and a half ago my father stole a lot of cocaine from the mafia so they forced him to sell drugs at street prices or they'd kill him, my sister, and me. Of course, my retarded father started using the drugs instead of selling them so to save my sister and myself I agreed to sell the drugs instead." I paused and dug through the pocket on the outside of my jacket for the note. "Two days ago my father took 150,000 yen and spent it on hookers instead of giving it to the mafia. I went home yesterday to this note, ended up handcuffing my overdosing father to his bed frame, and held two prostitutes at gun point to get the money back." I handed the folded note to him.

He didn't seem to be phased at all by what I had just explained. He took the note and read it quietly then handed it back to me and stood up. My initial instinct was to stand up and corner him between the fence and me. I did so. "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you," I growled with a death glare. "My little sister's life is in danger and I won't let you get in my way."

He threw up his hands in surrender, "I promise I won't mention it to anyone."

"I'm having trouble believing you," my grip was firm, one hand on his shoulder and the other on the chain-link fence that rattled a little from the pressure I was putting on it. He was about three inches taller than me and I was sure he could overpower me if he wanted to. It took all I had to stay strong and suppress my fears.

"I told you I wanted to help. If I went and told someone, that would only make the situation worse," he gave me an unusually warm smile and slid out of my grasp and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" I called to him letting worry break through my tone.

"I'd like to know more about this Tatsuhiro person. I'm going to do some research," with that he was gone.

"Well, shit," I groaned. _Good going, Rhea, _I hissed inwardly. A few minutes later I decided to hit the streets trying to sell off the rest of the opium.

* * *

*** 500,000 yen** (¥500,000) is equal to $5,000. Basically, any money numbers you see, take off the last two zeros. (So technically, the prostitutes weren't that cheap but I wouldn't sell myself for $750. XD)

*** Eight-ball**: 1/8 of an ounce or 3.5 grams of a substance. Usually refers to cocaine or Methamphetamines but fuck it! :P Tee-hee I said butt-fuck XD

* * *

**Author's Note**

Okay, I'm only doing this disclaimer stuff once (maybe again on the next chapter but after that, you should already know).

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own Yu Yu Hakusho, the original characters, or the original plot which you will see later on. I also don't own the dialog from Funimation's dubbing which you will most definitely see a lot of. There's just no replacing the masterminds behind Funimation's dubbing skills. And I love every second of Justin Cooke, John Burgmeier, Chuck Huber, and Christopher R. Sabat's voices and I don't want to lose any of the original stuff that makes the show so epic. I will, however, make few changes to the original plot because of certain annoyances (i.e. Miyuki of the Demon Triad and Yusuke's fight, the end of the fight is just annoying XP)

**Special Thanks:** First, I would like to thank _crossyourteez_ for inspiring me to write a fanfiction like this. I'm enjoying it greatly! If you don't know who _crossyourteez_ is, you should find out starting with her story, "Against the Grain", it's amazing!

Secondly, and definitely not any less, thank YOU for reading! I have a small gift in return, nothing special, but I liked it and you probably will too. I was double checking the spelling of John's last name and found a youtube video titled "John Burgmeier Sings!" Go watch it! It's fucking epic, I'm still laughing! Anyone know what anime that's from? 'Cause I have no idea. XD

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! _**Please feel free to leave a review**_, follow the story or hell, follow me in general! And if you can't wait for the next chapter, you can fill the void in your heart with some of my other fanfictions. :P Thank you again! Now leave a review. -.- *holds M1911 pistol to your face*


	2. Total Desperation Part 2

_I arrived at the Tatsuhiro warehouse at 10:59 p.m. the next Wednesday. A burly guy cracked the door and looked me up and down then grabbed me by the collar and dragged me inside. He pulled me through a small room and another door into the main warehouse. I could hear a man screaming in agony and a few men laughing psychotically. The burly man continued to guide me by the collar around rows of crates until we arrived at the center where a man lay lifeless on the floor. He was covered head to toe in blood and it seeped out around him on the floor. He was still moaning in misery. My chest tightened as I studied the scene. Two men were standing over him with grins burned into their faces and blood on their hands. Tatsuhiro stood a little ways back with a cigar._

_"Little Sarama, you're just in time," Tatsuhiro mused. The burly man let go of my collar and started walking away. Tatsuhiro walked up to the man on the ground and kicked him, "Ayaki, why don't you tell this young lady what you did?"_

_The figure on the floor groaned, "I… didn't… fol… follow… orders…"_

_"Hm, can you be more specific, please?" Tatsuhiro asked humorously._

_"I wouldn't… kill… the boy… who… wondered into… the… warehouse…"_

_I was petrified. I felt the handles of the bag of money slip out of my hand and heard it hit the floor._

_Tatsuhiro was walking towards me with a smile on his face, "Have you ever shot a gun before, little girl?"_

_I shook my head lightly. My gaze was frozen on the man on the floor._

_Tatsuhiro chuckled and pulled out a gun from the inside of his black blazer and offered it to me, "Why don't you look at this one."_

_I looked at the gun then to him. He nodded and I shakily reached out for the gun. When it was in my hands he stepped back, "Go ahead and examine it." My hand was still shaking violently as I looked at the gun from most angles. "Be careful, the safety is off," he warned. I continued studying the gun until Tatsuhiro spoke again. "That gun is called a M1911 pistol. This is called the barrel," he pointed to the tip of the gun where the bullets shot out. "I want you to stick it in that man on the floor's mouth." I gawked up at him. "Well? I don't have all day, girl," he said more sternly._

_I walked slowly over to the man on the floor. _Oh my god! What am I doing?! I can't shoot a gun! I can't do this!_ My heartbeat started rapping in my ears as I stopped next to the bloody man on the floor. He was much bigger than I had originally thought. I tried to put the barrel in the man's mouth but he managed to lift his arm long enough to swat the gun away with a moan._

_"Well, that just won't do," Tatsuhiro called from behind me, "You'll have to pin down his arms."_

What the hell am I doing?!_ My body knew better than my mind and obeyed the order. I knelt down on one of his elbows and swung my leg over his torso and did the same to his other elbow. I felt his blood start to rub against my legs and navy blue middle school uniform skirt._

_"Excellent," Tatsuhiro mused, "Now stick the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Make sure his teeth touch the gun. I shakily put the gun in the man's mouth. The bloody man closed his eyes and bit down on the barrel which made it shake a lot less. My mind went blank when I realized he was doing all he could to help me follow my orders. We both knew Tatsuhiro was about to order me to pull the trigger. I felt the knot in my chest tighten even more and my eyes burned and started to water up._

_"Rhea," Tatsuhiro addressed me._

_"Y-yes… sir?" I choked out. The blood in my veins started to boil with adrenaline._

_"Pull the trigger."_

_I hesitated for a second then felt my finger curl around the trigger and tighten. There was a loud "bang", the recoil made my arm jump, and blood splattered all over my face. I felt the steaming tears roll down my cheeks as I stared at what was left of the man's head in horror. The arms under my knees went limp and I no longer shook from fear._

_I heard Tatsuhiro start to clap softly, "Very well done, Young Sarama. You should get yourself cleaned up in the bathroom and come to my office for your next pick up."_

_I nodded once softly and did as I was told._

* * *

It was well after midnight when I got back to the apartment. I had stopped by earlier to make dime bags* and eight-balls. I racked up 75,000 yen. That meant I only needed 25,000 more. I was exhausted though, club hopping really drained me.

"Rhea!" I heard my father calling from his bedroom. He was still chained up. "Rhea!" I ignored him and counted out the money again. "RHEA, PLEASE!" he pleaded desperately. I continued ignoring him and weighed out the rest of the opium. "Just tell me what's going on!" he screamed, "Rhea!"

I huffed and went to the bedroom remaining in the doorway, "What?" I growled.

He looked at me distressed, "Please release me. I want to help!"

"No," I replied coldly. "You'll stay there as long as I see fit." I turned around and froze when I saw my little sister staring up at me.

"Ne-Neema?" I gasped. She looked completely untouched; no scratches, no ripped clothing—they weren't even wrinkled. "How…?"

"Batman saved me!" she cheered and I felt my knees fall to the floor as I embraced her in a hug.

"Batman?" I choked out through happy tears that streamed down my face.

"Well, he was wearing a cheap Batman costume. I don't know who he really was," she wiggled herself out of my death grip.

I sat back and wiped my tears away with a small laugh, "I think that's the point of the costume," I paused. _Batman… _The redheaded boy from school popped into my head but I shook the thought away, _I'll deal with that later._

"He told me to give you this," she held out a single red rose. I took it carefully, noting that it had no thorns. I found myself laughing at the mental image of a Batman with long flowing red hair. My sister swirled her finger in a circle around her ear to my father indicating that she thought I was crazy.

I dropped the rose and embraced her again. After making her favorite, mac-n-cheese, I sent her to bed and lit up a cigarette. I went to put the rose in a vase but pricked my finger on a thorn and cursed. _What the hell?_ I felt a wave of fatigue hit me and managed to get the flower in a vase of water before passing out on my bed.

* * *

The next morning I awoke to the smells and sounds of bacon cooking. I sat up and rubbed the crust from my eyes and looked around. I found the rose in its vase on my nightstand. I studied it and realized the thorns were missing. _I could have sworn I pricked my finger on a thorn last night…_ I looked at my hands and found a small red dot on the tip of my left index finger. _What the fuck?_ I heard my sister chatting away and pulled myself to the door and opened it.

"Good morning, Rhea," my father sang as he made up a plate of bacon, eggs, and strawberries and placed it next to my sister at the kitchen bar. _How? He was cuffed to the bed last night!_ I walked cautiously over to the food and studied him. He gave me a sad smile and poured me a glass of milk. He was wearing khaki pants with a black belt. His light blue button-down shirt was wrinkle-free and tucked in. He had also shaved and styled his hair. I stared at him in awe. I hadn't seen him like this since my mom divorced him seven years ago.

He frowned at me, took up my hand, and looked me in the face, "Rhea, I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you. It dawned on me last night that I didn't deserve to have a daughter as amazing as you. Starting today I'm going to make it up to you. I'll walk Neema to school and start looking for a decent job. I owe you so much," he trailed off and let go of my hand and looked down at the tile floor, "because if it weren't for you, I'd be dead a hundred times over."

I gawked at him and he straightened his tie, "I'm serious. I'm a new dad from here on. A real one."

I shoved a piece of bacon into my mouth and went back to my room to put on my male uniform. I grabbed my bag and went back to sit next to my sister at the bar. I ate my food quietly as I listened to my little sister describe her knight in plastic armor.

"It was strange, daddy," she sang while piling eggs into her mouth. "I heard a bunch of bangs and then the door opened and Batman was there!"

_Freshie… What did you __**do**__?_ I couldn't grasp my thoughts; they were swirling and contradicting each other.

"Then he put the guard to sleep and knelt down next to me and asked me if my family name was Sarama! I cried and hugged him!" she had her hands high in the air with excitement. "Then he walked me home! I think he has a crush on Rhea though," she added and sank into her seat disappointed.

I laughed at her and put my dishes in the sing, "I don't think so." I kissed her on the forehead and headed for the door. "I have to go to school," I looked over my father wearily and closed the door behind me.

I had started out half an hour earlier than usual and decided to go by the warehouse Tatsuhiro had owned. As I approached I heard a woman yelling hysterically; strangely, she sounded happy. "He's dead. I don't want anything to do with this tin drug den. Sell it!" she was saying to a guy in a suit. I walked by unnoticed, thankfully. _Tatsuhiro is dead? What about all his drones?_

I pondered this as I went to school. I passed the classroom and headed straight for the rooftop. I stopped right before I opened the door. I had shivers running up and down my spine.

"You killed off the entire mafia last night?" a deep male voice laughed, "To save a little girl you've never met before? That's rich!"

"In a costume to hide your identity nonetheless," another voice noted sarcastically.

"What a waste of time," the first voice continued, "Hey, I smell something good!"

The door swung open and a huge man wearing a green shirt grinned menacingly down at me. "What a perfect breakfast," he sang as he grabbed me by the collar.

I tried to pry him off, dropping my book bag in the staircase, "Hey!" I shouted as he lifted me off the ground. I bit his hand and he dropped me.

"I love it when they make me work for my food!" he laughed and lunged for me.

I barely dodged him and saw that they were previously having a conversation with the redhead. _What the fuck is going on!?_

"Gouki," he said in a scarily serious voice.

Gouki ignored him and with crazy speed laced his huge fingers around my throat and slammed me into the chain-link fence. I gasped and started kicking at him and clawing at his hand and arm as it cut off my oxygen.

Gouki laughed, "She's a feisty one!" he cheered amused.

"Let her go. Now," the redhead hissed coldly.

"I'm sorry, Kurama, is this your girlfriend?" Gouki teased. I noticed the other, smaller guy had left.

"Gouki," an unearthly threatening tone was in the redhead's voice.

Gouki laughed and choked me harder. I could feel my body start to numb and my sight started to blacken. I hit the ground as Gouki cried out, "The little bitch just burnt me!"

"Gouki, if you wish to live, I suggest you leave right now," I heard the redhead's voice as I gasped for air.

"You owe me a meal," Gouki hissed.

* * *

I felt someone prop me up against the fence and shake my shoulders, "Rhea?"

I blinked my eyes open, my sight slowly focused on the redhead, "What-?"

He sighed and sat back, "Are you alright?"

Reality came back and my eyes grew wide, "What the _fuck_!?"

He looked at me seriously, "I'm sorry," he started.

"Wanna explain?" I hissed with a raised eyebrow.

"I have a bit of a secret life of my own," he admitted hesitantly.

"Are you going to _explain, Batman_?"

His lips twitched up a little, "Basically, replace the mafia with demons."

I stared at him.

He sighed again and leaned against the fence next to me, "My mother is dying and the doctors can't do anything to help. I can though, if I team up with two demons, Gouki and Hiei, to steal an enchanted mirror that can save my mother."

I looked up at him with squinted eyes, "Demons? Enchanted mirrors?"

He gave a sheepish grin, "You don't know about demons?" he joked.

I deadpanned.

His face turned serious again, "How did you burn Gouki?"

"I figured you could tell me," I retorted wearily.

"My assumption would be that you're a psychic," he stated simply.

"Psychic?"

He looked at me amused, "Some humans have the ability to harness their spirit energy and manifest them."

"Do you want to speak English here?!"

He laughed a little, "Every human has spirit energy, at least a little. Humans with significant amounts can wield their energy."

I studied the crazy redhead for a moment. _I think I might actually believe this… no normal teenage boy can take on the Tatsuhiro Mafia by himself… Regardless, he went up against a whole spectrum of guns…_ "I take it you're not the average _psychic_."

He laughed a little more, "No."

"You're a demon," I stated rather than asked.

"Yes," his amused expression turned back to a serious one.

I took a few seconds to absorb this. "So," I trailed off. _Assuming this guy isn't a lunatic and is actually a god damn demon…_ I decided to change the topic over to my sister and the late mafia, "What'd you do last night?"

His smile returned to his face, "I think you know."

_I know… _"How many of them did you kill?"

"All of them."

I paused. _At least I don't have to deal with any of that shit anymore… but,_ "The rose?"

"Yes," It's like this guy knew what I was thinking before I could even make a sound thought about it. _This asshole poisoned me!_

"My father?"

"That one is a little more complicated to explain."

"I can put the pieces together by myself. I can't, however, read your fucking mind so why don't you enlighten me. What the fuck did you do to my dad?"

He tried to hide his amusement, "I should apologize, and I didn't realize you'd make these connections so easily."

"I worked for a drug lord, kind of a requirement for that line of work."

He smiled over to me, "I gave your father a memory serum so he'd forget his addictions and bad habits. One of the other abilities of the serum allows me to influence the victim on their future behaviors."

I stared at him in awe. _Oh my god! You drugged me and brainwashed my father! I don't think I want to be in the rabbit hole anymore… This is too fucking weird._

"Do you have any more questions you'd like me to answer?" he asked lightheartedly.

"No," I heard come out of my mouth in the midst of my shock that finally started settling in, "Yes. Why did you do it?" I asked quietly as I lit up a cigarette.

"I wanted to help."

"That's bullshit. Why'd you really help me?"

He sighed, "To be completely honest, I have no idea. I'm usually a very selfish person." He paused, "But I'm glad I did it. You're a very interesting person."

"You already knew I was psychic, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Why do I feel like you're actually older than me?"

He laughed without holding back, "Because I am."

"How old?"

He smirked, "I lost track around seven hundred."

"You're kidding."

"Not at all."

"Ok…" _I can't believe I'm going along with this. _"So what do I call you?"

"Around other people, Shuichi Minamino; when we're alone you can call me Kurama."

"You dirty mother fucker."

He laughed; he was getting way too much entertainment out of me. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Why am I calling you Kurama?"

"It's my original name."

"Now it's time to explain again."

"I might as well, you already know too much anyways."

"What?" I snapped in his direction concerned.

"I was originally a very powerful fox demon with the power to manipulate plants. The Spirit World sent a bounty hunter after me. I was badly wounded and hid myself in a human embryo that wasn't developed enough to have a soul yet. I was reborn as Shuichi Minamino and retained my powers a few years ago."

"Well, damn," I replied after a moment. _Win for the Japanese in the religion department._ "How's this magic mirror going to save your mom's life?"

He looked away from me at that point, "It's complicated."

I tilted my head, "Really?" I asked sarcastically.

He gave me a fake smile, "It's not that big of a deal."

"I'll burn you," I threatened.

He tried not to laugh, "Do you even know how you did that to Gouki?"

"No. But I'll find out and burn your ass."

"You want to burn my rear end?" he asked teasingly.

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll find out."

After a moment of silence, he stood up and dusted himself off, "I guess I should get back to class."

As he turned to leave it dawned on me that I hadn't muttered a single thank you. "Wait," I spat out.

He turned back and looked down at me, "Yes?"

"Thank you," I managed to get out.

"For what?"

"You know what. How am I supposed to repay you for getting my life in order?"

"I just took out the trash," he replied kindly.

I laughed, "No, seriously," I stood up, "How can I repay you?"

"I don't want anything in return," he admitted. "Just enjoy life, now that you can." He went inside.

I smoked a cigarette while going over everything that just happened on the school roof. _"Just enjoy life, now that you can,"_ repeated in my mind. I found myself staring down at my hands that had "burned" Gouki. _I want to know more about this…_

* * *

***dime bag** is one gram of a substance. Unless you're friends with your dealer, you probably won't be able to buy anything less than this.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Ok, I warned you. This is my second and last disclaimer. I'm not posting another one because I honestly don't think there should be a need. This is on _**fanfiction**_.net after all. If anyone says something about it later on, I'm going to refer them to this chapter and let everyone laugh at them.

**Disclaimer:**

I do NOT own Yu Yu Hakusho, any of the original characters, or original plot (which you will start to see in the next chapter). There will be dialog from Funimation's dubbing, I don't own that either. I will, however, make a few slight changes here and there to the originals because my OC's personality won't sit there and take that shit. For the most part, things will be elaborated on, not cut out.

**Special Thanks:**

I'd like to give another shout out to _crossyourteez_! I am having SO much fun with this, thank you for inspiring me! And thank you for reading and reviewing! Anyone who isn't already familiar with _crossyourteez_ needs to be. She's awesome and her story is to die for!

Thank you, _nn3887_, for following.

I think that's about it. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! _**Please feel free to leave a review**_, follow, and favorite! Love ya guys! See you soon! :P


	3. Total Desperation Part 3

_ I opened the door to our apartment and froze when I smelt the rich smoke of cigar coming from inside. I knelt down to my little sister, "Why don't you go ask Mrs. Chiyo if she'll show you her new puppy?"_

_ "Okay!" Neema sang and skipped down the hall. I silently closed the door behind me and walked around to the living area where Tatsuhiro was waiting for me._

_ "Young Sarama, I'm very disappointed in you," he scolded coolly._

_ "I'm sorry," I bowed my head, not even knowing what I did wrong._

_ Tatsuhiro slammed a stack of papers onto the coffee table, "Failing school is unacceptable, Sarama."_

That's what this is about?_ I kept my head down and read my report card._

_ "How can I trust you too keep up with your work if you can't keep up with your grades?" he pressed._

_ It clicked in my head that he didn't give two shits about my grades; he didn't want the school to start interfering with our agreement. "I understand, sir. It won't happen again."_

_ "Do you?" he made a gesture to one of his goons who were standing against the wall._

_ "Yes. We don't want the school to interfere with us," I announced my understanding._

_ "You're a very perceptive child. That's exactly why I'm here. Now you must be punished for your lack of responsibility."_

_ I clenched my fists in preparation for what was about to happen. I wasn't entirely sure. The man Tatsuhiro had gestured to approached me and grabbed me with both hands. I let it happen; there was nothing I could possibly do to this giant. He lifted me up and carried me into my room and held me out the already opened window. Then he stepped out onto the fire escape and carried me all the way to the roof. Tatsuhiro and his other drone followed silently. I was terrified of what was going to happen. I was frozen by fear. We reached the roof and the man who had been carrying me held me by the collar and lifted me over the edge of the building. I stared down at the pavement of the alleyway and watched as one of my shoes fell off my feet._

_ "Well, little Sarama?" Tatsuhiro addressed me, "Is this what you want for yourself?"_

_ "N-no, sir," I managed to choke out. The wind picked up and blew through my clothes making it seem like I could fly if the man dropped me._

_ "Then you have some work to do, don't you?" Tatsuhiro took a drag from his cigar, "This next semester you will be doing work of a different crime. Consider it an ongoing detention until your grades improve," he made another gesture to the man holding me. The man laughed and released the collar of my middle school uniform._

_ For a split second it felt like I was floating. Then the adrenaline surged through my veins and I fell. There was no time to think. I just knew what to do. As I fell, I reached out to the fire escape and caught hold of a railing. I let the gravity of my fall pull me into the fire escape and released my grip on the railing as it slammed into my chest and face. I fell down a flight of the stairs and halted where the staircase turned. I was alive, somehow. The pain caught up with me and I squeezed my eyelids tight. My body felt vibrant and hot. I couldn't move. I coughed and opened my eyes. My sight was blurry and red. Blood tricked down my face and out of my mouth. I coughed more out. I tried to move but agonizing electricity shot through my body. I whimpered and relaxed as much as I could. I stayed still and sunk into an abyss of blood and fear._

* * *

I went to my classroom after first period was over and stayed in school the rest of the day. That's the most I'd gone to class that week. After school, I went home only to be greeted by my over enthusiastic sister and father. My dad was cooking something when I walked in, "Hey, Rhea!" he sang.

"Hello," I greeted trying not to sound suspicious. _I forgot that Kurama did something to him…_

"How was school?" he asked with a smile.

I watched him carefully as I set my bag down next to my bedroom door, "Uh… good, I guess."

He set down his cooking utensil, "You guess?" he laughed. "What's that mean?"

I sighed and sat down on the couch, "I actually went to class," I replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well," he paused understanding why I didn't go to my classes usually, "That's good. I want you to continue going to class." He smiled, "All of them. I'm the parent now; you're the child who goes to school." He said this as if the past year and a half didn't actually happen. I glanced over to him and he gave me a huge grin.

"What's got you in a peppy mood?"

"Daddy's getting a job!" my cheery sister replied for him. She was playing with a puzzle at the kitchen counter.

"How?" I asked as I walked over to see the puzzle.

"I have two interviews downtown tomorrow and another interview next week in midtown," he grinned as he went back to cooking.

_My dad already has three interviews lined up… in one day… and he's cooking again! What the _fuck_ did Kurama do to my dad?!_ "That's…" I was shocked.

"I told you she'd be surprised!" my little sister joked towards my dad.

"Yes, very," I retorted. "But it's a good surprise," I quickly added after a second.

My dad laughed and made up three plates of rice, sausage, and stir-fry vegetables. I was definitely impressed and even more so when I started eating. My sister talked our heads off through dinner and I was pretty sure she was still trying to talk as she went to go take a shower.

I laughed to myself and cleaned up the dishes. I have a little bit of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I watched as my father helped my sister get ready for bed and as he kissed her goodnight I snuck out of the apartment. I left a note saying I was going out for a walk, which was true but in all honesty, it was just too weird to stay.

Whenever I felt I needed to think something through, I'd walk through the park. Tonight I managed to arrive at the park entrance without even realizing I was headed there. A cold wind picked up and I shook my head at me subconscious that was trying to tell me something. As I walked I decided to go off the path and through the forest. I lit up a cigarette and stared down at my hand. _I "burned" Gouki. What does that mean? How did I do it?_

After a while I decided to turn back. The sun was setting and the forest was dark. It wasn't long before I heard voices ahead that weren't there before.

"And once the moon becomes full we can use Kurama's weapon and supposedly get complete control. Isn't that right?" an angry voice fantasized.

_Kurama?_ I stopped and ducked down behind a bush in hopes of not being noticed. There really wasn't a way of getting around them anyways. My skin was crawling with anxiety; it was like waves of some unknown substance were slamming into me. _He wants to do what now?_

"Sorry, I must withdraw from this alliance," Kurama replied calmly. The two demons made surprised noises.

"What's that supposed to mean? Surely you're not dropping out of the game after we've come this far!" the angry guy retorted, the wrath in his voice growing.

"Yes," Kurama answered simply.

"You coward!" I think Kurama said his name was Hiei. "Your years of hiding in _this_ world has made you just like them; spineless and ready to be walked on!"

"I don't give a fuck if he leaves, but he has no right to the loot," Gouki cut in, I definitely recognized that voice. "Give us the pretty little mirror," he ordered. _This guy…_

"I can't. I have great need for it myself first," Kurama resisted coolly.

"Well," Gouki cut Kurama off, "Look what we have here." He charged through the shrubbery that separated us and grabbed my wrists. He was extremely fast for being so huge. I groaned as he twisted my arms so that I couldn't touch him. "What's your little girlfriend doing out here?"

"Yes, what are you doing out here?" Kurama asked me gently.

"I _was_ taking a walk until this oaf found me," I retorted angrily. I didn't intend to sound so worked up but the bastard was trying to tear off my limbs.

"Gouki, let her go," Kurama sighed. The small emo kid stayed quiet.

Gouki laughed, "Or what? If she ain't your girlfriend, I don't see a point in keeping her around!" He opened his mouth to gesture that he wanted to eat me. I cringed and brought my foot up behind me and straight into his crotch. He yelped and released his hold on me. I turned around to face him and he lunged at me. _I really hope this works,_ I threw my hands up and clasped onto his face. I felt my hands turn hot and Gouki screamed in agony and backed off. My jaw dropped when I saw the damage that had been done. His cheeks looked like someone had spooned out his flesh. _It's not a burn, it's erosion… with my bare hands!_

"Sweet," I grinned. Gouki growled and it took me all but a second to run behind Kurama in hopes that he'd keep Gouki from coming after me.

There was a rustling from the bushes that made us all turn to see what it was.

"Excuse me, neighbors!" A young man popped out from behind the bushes. "Couldn't help but notice there's no rain falling here. Maybe the next time you guys go stealing some magic toys, you should hide where it's not so obviously sunny," He grinned. _When the hell did it start raining?_ "Just a tip," he added. He had slicked back black hair and was wearing a green school uniform. I found it ridiculously funny that he was holding a branch like an umbrella.

"Who are _you_?" this Hiei guy growled, "And how do you know about the_ artifacts_?"

"Give us your name," Gouki added redundantly.

"Oh, thank you," the boy holding the branch started. "I hoped you'd ask! Hello, boys!" he held his thumb up pointing towards himself. "The name's Yusuke, I'm a spirit detective," he introduced with a huge grin. _Well, that's not necessarily good._

"Spirit detective?" Gouki asked.

"Don't worry, he's just one of Koenma's fools," Hiei reassured his dumb partner. "He must have been the only human they could round up. His spirit energy is pathetic," Hiei analyzed.

Kurama turned to me and gently nudged me to start walking away. I glanced up at him but turned and started walking without question. _I really don't want to get in trouble with the Afterworld!_ He stayed close behind me, probably just in case any of them decided to attack.

"Hey!" The spirit detective barked, "Where are you going?"

I glanced back but kept walking. Kurama never faltered, "Sorry, I don't have time to be arrested," he mocked before we were engulfed in the dark shadows of the trees. We started running as he finished his goodbye.

* * *

We walked in silence until we got to the park entrance. My left wrist hurt like a bitch and I kept rubbing it to try and numb it a little.

"Are you hurt?" Kurama asked after a while.

"I think it just got twisted a little too much," I replied as I lit a cigarette. He stopped and took my arm and analyzed my wrist. He started to gently twist my forearm and hand. "What are you doing?" I growled as I felt waves of pain vibrate through my wrist and arm.

He let go, "It's sprained," he informed me sadly.

"Same thing," I blew off again.

"What were you doing in the forest?" he asked out of nowhere.

"I was taking a walk. My father was tripping me out," I replied teasingly.

He laughed a little, "In a good or bad way?"

"A good one," I paused, "It's just a little creepy. You made my life do a one-eighty overnight… it's a lot to take in."

"So you aren't as accepting as you lead on," I think he meant that to be a question.

"Don't get me wrong; I'm wholly accepting this craziness," I looked over at him, "It's just very sudden, and out of nowhere."

He smiled at me, "Should I not have done what I did?"

"No," I replied automatically, "I mean, yes. I'm very glad you did all that. Thank you."

He laughed again, "Would you like to come inside for a moment?" he gestured to a townhouse we had stopped in front of.

"Sure," I replied after realizing I had been blindly following his lead. We went inside and he gestured for me to sit down. I sat on the couch and watched him disappear and reappear with a first aid kit. I made a disapproving face.

He sat down next to me, "This isn't the average first aid kit," he replied to my expression as he opened it. It was filled entirely with small vials.

"What the hell?" I asked staring at the kit.

He pulled out a vial that had a piece of paper taped to it reading "Sprains". He opened it and poured a small amount of clear liquid into his hand. He then rubbed his hands together and clasped them gently around my wrist and started rubbing the liquid in.

"What are you doing?"

"This will fix the sprain almost immediately," he replied simply. "It needs my spirit energy to work though," he added after a second.

"Ah," I replied and looked over the coffee table as he let go and started putting his crazy first aid kit away. There was a small circular mirror on the table and I picked it up to analyze it. "Is this the mirror you were talking about?"

Some of the color left his face, "Yes."

"So what's it do again?"

"It grants me any wish I want," he replied vaguely.

"Whenever you want?"

"No, only on the night of the full moon," he sat back down.

"So what's the catch?" I asked blankly.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"There's no way it's going to grant your wish without something in return," I replied easily.

He looked at me for a while in silence.

"Well?" I pressed.

He sighed and leaned back against the couch, "It'll grant my wish in return for my life." I stared at him. "You kept asking, so I told you," he replied to my expression.

"You've got to be one of the most retarded people I've ever met."

"Why's that?" he sounded taken aback.

"Your mom is going to be saved just so she can mourn your death for the rest of her life. You're not doing her any favors here," I scolded.

He frowned, "Why do you think that?"

I sighed and leaned back against the couch as well, "Look, humans don't live long. We can't even get to one hundred let alone seven. We have all kinds of diseases and we're weak. If she survives this one, another one's just gonna come along later on. We don't live forever like you do, it's just what happens. We die." He seemed to be thinking on what I said. "I don't mean to sound like a bitch but… You'll end up rolling in your grave when she gets another life threatening disease in a few years from now," I added after a long silence.

There was another silence, "You might be right, but I owe this to her. I haven't made her life an easy one. If she can survive this, then at least the last few years of her life will be happy," he finally replied. "I know her boyfriend is going to marry her and make her very happy… regardless of my death."

I shook my head, "You're stupid."

"Possibly," he smiled which I thought was strange.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, noticing that my wrist wasn't hurting anymore. "Well, that sucks. I was really looking forward to more crazy things happening on the roof of the school." He stood as well and walked me to the door. "So what are you going to do for the last few days of your life?" I turned and asked as he opened the front door.

He looked over to the mirror on the table then back to me, "I haven't really decided yet."

* * *

I walked home slowly, disheartened by what I just learned. "Four days, huh?" I asked the early night air. I got home and automatically lit up a cigarette. My father and sister were soundly asleep, enjoying the happy turn of events while I was being kept awake because I was too busy worrying about some suicidal demon. _That's just fucking great…_

The next day at school I didn't bother sneaking off to the roof until the lunch break. When I opened the door to the roof, I noticed Kurama was already there… with Hiei.

"Oh, great," I groaned and lit up a cigarette.

The midget turned and glared at me, "Leave, or I'll make you my slave," he hissed.

I rolled my eyes, "Sure you will," I took a drag of my cigarette.

Hiei growled and got into a fighting stance.

"She doesn't care about your motives, Hiei," Kurama stepped in.

Hiei snapped back at Kurama, "If she's not ignorant, she's in the way," he growled angrily.

"No," I replied lazily and they both looked at me. "I really don't give a fuck what you do with your new shiny sword that turns trees into gargoyles." Their eyes grew just a little bit wider when they realized I had witnessed more than I had lead on the night before. "To tell you the truth, half the time I agree. Humans can really fucking suck."

Hiei let out a small evil chuckle, "Then you should team up with me. I can even help you make that corrosive power of yours stronger," he offered.

I deadpanned, "What part of 'I don't give a fuck' don't you understand?"

"She has a point," Kurama noted to distract the aggressive midget.

"Fine," Hiei turned back to Kurama, "I'll be seeing you in Hell," and he straight up disappeared. I blinked in disbelief. Kurama gave me a faint smile.

I took another drag off my cigarette, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch meeting," I joked a little.

He seemed to force a bigger smile, "No. I should thank you. He was pestering me to rejoin him."

"Oh," I replied and looked off to the side, "You're welcome then." I sat down against the fence and he followed suit. We sat in silence until my cigarette burned down to the filter. I tossed it over the fence. "Kurama—?"

"I know," he cut me off. I looked up at him but he was facing away from me. "My decision is stupid, right?"

I sighed, "I won't pester you about it, but are you sure there isn't another way? Maybe a different magical item?"

He looked back to me, "Why is this so important to you?"

I thought about it a while before replying, "It's probably the same reason you decided to wipe out the entire mafia."

He nodded once in understanding, "Unfortunately, this is more of a last resort," he answered my question finally.

I let my head drop in defeat.

Randomly, Kurama started laughing quietly and I looked at him like he was crazy, "What's so funny?" I asked taken aback.

"I'm surprised at how well your arguments have gotten under my skin," he replied with a small grin.

I looked at him funny, "What?"

"I'm starting to second guess my decision because of your lecture from last night," he explained.

I laughed, "That sucks for you," I replied sarcastically. I have a tendency to turn to cruelty when I didn't want to deal with emotions.

He gave a small laugh, "Yes, it does. I think it's because I've never been called 'stupid' before."

I laughed again, "Really? Why?"

He gave me a slightly evil grin, "Because no one's dared to."

"I'm so scared," I teased.

"You should be."

"You're not gonna do shit."

"What makes you so confident?"

"Because then you would have wasted your time offing the mafia."

"What if I didn't do it for you?"

I grinned, "You aren't going to do shit."

He lifted his eyebrow curiously.

"You don't want that pretty face of yours to be corroded," I continued to tease.

"You'd never be able to get close enough to touch me," he retorted playfully.

"Wanna bet?"

He laughed and stood up, "It's very tempting to prove you wrong, but you're right. I'd never bother wasting time fighting a human."

"That's rather insulting," I stood up as well.

He turned back to me with a grin, "Good," and ran inside.

"I guess I deserved that," I mused and picked up my bag and headed back to class.

* * *

I got home only to be greeted by the _last_ person I wanted to see. My mother.

"Well, hello Rhea," she greeted with hidden intent.

I stared at her. After a moment I found my feet and walked over to my room to set my bag down, my eyes never leaving my mother.

"I thought we settled this uniform issue," she continued.

"Funny, the dean said the same thing earlier this week," I retorted coldly.

"Come now, let's not be acidic towards each other," she offered with a dry tone. "Shall we go out for coffee?"

_Ha, _acidic_. Where are dad and Neema?_ I nodded once and followed her out of the apartment. My mother was a successful businesswoman who had left my father, my sister, and me for money. Three years ago she started showing back up, using her money to make our lives miserable. She knew I'd hate going to Meiou High School so she pays for me to go there, even though I'd prefer the free, public high school where I wasn't forced to wear a frilly uniform. She completely ignores my little sister and constantly tries to get my father in legal trouble. In other words, she likes forcing us through hoops… that have been set on fire.

I followed her silently to a café down the street from the apartment. I studied her the entire way. She bought my drink and sat us down at a table outside. I lit up a cigarette.

"That's bad for you," she lectured.

I took a drag and flicked ash on the ground, "I thought you'd be happy that I'm forcing myself to have a long, painful death."

"You shouldn't smoke, it's un-lady-like."

"So are your family values," I reminded her.

She sat back, "I've decided that when you graduate from Meiou, you'll be going to college in America."

"Fuck that," I snorted.

"You don't want me to pay for your education?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to be monetarily connected to you. You're dead to me."

She sighed, "If you don't go to college—"

"If I decide to go to college, I'll go on my own terms," I cut her off. "The only reason you want to _help_ is to watch me squirm."

Her lips twitched up, "How's Neema?" she changed topics.

"You'd know if you gave her the time of day."

"Rhea!"

"I remember what you said when you left. Neema was three years old and you told her she would be your _last mistake_," I reminded her aggressively.

My mother went silent; I wasn't letting her get a leg in to fuck up our newly found freedom. "Has it occurred to you that I'm trying to make amends?"

I studied her, "Pushing us around with your money is not 'making amends'. You're supposed to use motherly love and affection for that shit," I replied.

Her face contorted for a split second, "I could if you'd let me."

"You don't have it in you." I felt a tap on my shoulder and my mother and I looked at the person who interrupted our conversation, "Oh, Shuichi! Thank god!" I exclaimed and stood up giving him a quick hug.

He blinked in surprise, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all," I gritted and pinched his back telling him he'd better play along. I turned back to my mother, "Sorry I had to cut our heart-to-heart short. I have a date."

Kurama looked confused for a split second then caught on that I was in need of an escape and he wrapped his arm around my waist to play the part, "My apologies, ma'am," he spoke to my mother. "The movie starts in fifteen and I already bought the tickets," he gave a light smile to her.

My mother stood up ignoring Kurama, "Rhea, aren't you at least going to introduce us?"

I gritted my teeth again, "This is Shuichi."

"Properly," My mother ordered.

I took in a deep breath trying to hold myself together, "This is Shuichi Minamino. Shuichi, this is my _mother_," I growled the last word and shot her a glare.

Kurama released his grip on my waist and made a small bow and shook my mother's hand, "It's very nice to meet you," he recited.

"What an upstanding young man," my mother complimented him, "Maybe you can teach my daughter a thing or two about manners," she managed to insult me.

Kurama gave a small laugh, "I'll work on it," he reassured her. I grabbed his arm and started walking off. We turned a corner and I let go of him.

"What was all that?" he lifted an eyebrow.

I sighed and leaned against the brick wall of a building. We had dodged into an alleyway to get away from the busy Friday afternoon commotion, "My mother," I replied regretfully.

Kurama slipped his hands into his pockets, "Should I kill her too?"

"Yes."

Kurama sweatdropped, "I was kidding."

"I wasn't."

"I noticed. Where are we going on our date?"

"We're not."

He laughed, "I'm just teasing." I didn't reply. "Is she really that bad?" he asked after a moment.

"I'd rather not talk about it." There was another silence. I took the opportunity to calm myself down. "So what are you doing around this part of town?" I asked after a minute.

He leaned up against the wall opposite of me, "That spirit detective has beaten Gouki and is coming this way. I plan to make a deal with him."

"A deal?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, if he can give me three days, I'll return the mirror and turn myself in."

"How are you going to do that if you're dead?"

He smirked, "That's the point."

"Ah," I looked down at my feet not sure was else to say. He started heading into the crowd again and I followed him. "So what else do you know about this spirit detective guy?" I was following slightly behind him because of how crowded the streets were and noted that it was getting dark already.

"His name is Yusuke and has the ability to concentrate his spirit energy to the tip of his finger and use it like a gun," he replied dryly.

"That's way more useful than whatever the fuck I have," I groveled to myself.

"Yes, but your spirit awareness is tenfold what his is," Kurama offered.

"How do you know?"

"I do my research," he smirked but it faded as I felt my hair stick on end and a strange beeping noise came into earshot. I looked up and saw the spirit detective a couple of yards away with a walking stick. He looked like he just had his ass handed to him. There was a girl with blue hair with him.

"Looks like someone's spidey-senses are tingling," I joked.

Kurama's lips twitched up for a moment. "Go home. Now," he ordered under his breath.

His tone made my spine tingle so I didn't argue. "Okey dokey," I turned on my heel and fell into the crowd. I looked back for just a second and saw the blue haired girl staring at me. _Oh, shit!_ I started running.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey! Something from the original content! Finally, right? XD Want a disclaimer? Read chapter two. I'm glad I got to post this, A tornado might come fuck up my shit soon. XD

**Special Thanks:**

Thanks to _crossyourteez, mrsbeggins_, and guest person for reviewing!

And thank _**you**_ for reading! I hope you liked it! _**Please feel free to leave a review**_, follow and favorite. There's more where this came from and it'll be up soon!


	4. Total Desperation Part 4

_ "So, Tatsuhiro is ordering ya to cut off the hands of these three men?" Mr. Daichi studied the slip of paper Tatsuhiro handed to me earlier that evening. Mr. Daichi was an acquaintance and customer of my father before he became addicted to the drugs himself. When I first started dealing in my father's place he was the first man I called; he has been a mentor to me ever since._

_ "That's right," I replied coldly._

_ "What caused him to switch it up?" Mr. Daichi asked curiously._

_ "I failed a few classes last semester," I admitted, "He's making me do this kind of stuff now as a lesson."_

_ "Hmm… I guess ya did have it easy just dealing," Mr. Daichi retorted pensively. "I remember some of the stuff he made yer father do. Mr. Sarama always came 'round here asking for help; he had a pretty weak stomach!" He started laughing._

_ "Probably not anymore," I grimaced._

_ "Okay!" Mr. Daichi turned to face me again, "So what'cha got?" I pulled the M1911 pistol Tatsuhiro told me to keep after shooting a man in the mouth at point blank out of my back pocket and handed it to him. "Ooh! Very nice! Where'd ya get something like this?"_

_ "Tatsuhiro."_

_ "At least the man has style," Mr. Daichi mused. "Okay, let's see," he started taking it apart and putting it back together, "It takes forty-five ACP, which we have plenty of lying around here." He looked back at me then disappeared into a storage room. He came back out with a meat cleaver and handed it to me along with the pistol. "Here ya go," he smiled._

_ I took the pistol and the meat cleaver, "What's this for?"_

_ Mr. Daichi laughed, "How else to you expect to cut off a man's hand?"_

_ I gawked at him in horror, "You can't be serious!"_

_ "Oh, but I am," he grinned and put on his coat, "Ya ready?" I nodded slowly and followed him out of his shop and into the back allies. We walked in the shadows to the first man's place. Mr. Daichi walked right up to the door and knocked. A man answered the door. "Is this the," Mr. Daichi looked down at the paper and back up, "Ichirou residence?"_

_ "Depends who's asking," the man folded his arms._

_ "Well, this young lady works for Tatsuhiro. I'm just her escort," he answered coolly._

_ The man looked us up and down then opened the door to let us in. We followed him to a den where Ichirou was reading a newspaper quietly._

_ "Mr. Ichirou, Tatsuhiro's girl is here," the man announced._

_ "Let her in," Ichirou responded without glancing up from his paper. Mr. Daichi and I entered the room and the man closed the door behind us. "What is it?" he asked grumpily._

_ "Sir," I started a little shakily, "I've been ordered to bring your hands back to Tatsuhiro."_

_ Ichirou set down his paper and looked me over then started laughing, "Seriously?"_

_ I looked up at Mr. Daichi and he nodded once. "Yes, sir," I replied and pulled out the meat cleaver from inside my middle school uniform jacket. Ichirou started laughing harder and I swung down the meat cleaver on his wrist. Blood squirted every which way as Mr. Daichi gagged Ichirou before he could start screaming out in pain._

_ "Quickly, Rhea," Mr. Daichi warned. I lifted the meat cleaver again and swung it down on Ichirou's other hand. Ichirou squirmed and kicked around and Mr. Daichi struggled to keep him quiet. "Good, now—" The man who had answered the door came bursting into the room. "Rhea!" Mr. Daichi called to me._

_ I knew what he meant and pulled out the M1911 pistol, aimed it at the man, and pulled the trigger. "Let's get out of here," Mr. Daichi replied then turned to Ichirou, "You might want to cauterize that," he offered his advice to the bleeding out Ichirou. He then scooped up the two severed hands into a bag and took up my hand and guided me out of the house._

* * *

My father and sister were watching a movie. They didn't seem to have a run in with my mother. I watched the movie with them and went to bed. I used the weekend to catch up on school work and managed to drag myself to school on Monday morning. I stayed in class almost the whole day just to avoid Kurama; I figured it would be best to take a break from all _that_ craziness. The bell rang for the last class to begin and I gave in to my nicotine addiction and snuck up to the roof.

I didn't even get to light my cigarette before I found Kurama sitting against the fence staring at the mirror. I sighed and went to go sit next to him.

He looked up with a weak smile, "I was afraid I had angered you."

I laughed, "No, just decided to actually go to class."

He laughed back, "You? Going to class on your own free will?"

"I could say the same to you, suicide fox," I retorted. "You're up here all the time too."

"Touché," he slid the mirror into his pocket.

"So…" I trailed off trying to decide what to say. "Tonight's the night, right?"

"Yes," he replied grimly not looking at anything in particular.

"You don't have to do this, you know," I tried.

"Rhea," he warned.

"Sorry," I lit up my cigarette. We sat in silence as I smoked. When I was finished I flicked the filter over the fence and turned to Kurama, "So do you have any fun plans before you off yourself?"

He looked at me questioningly, "No?"

I stood up and extended my arm to him, "Well, we need to change that," I forced a warm smile.

He studied me for a moment then took my offer. We quickly snuck down the stairs and around to a side entrance to the school. I had my hand on the door when the dean announced his presence, "And where do you think you're going?"

I groaned and turned to face the dean, "What's it to you?"

"_And_ Mr. Minamino? You should know better than to throw in with a delinquent," the dean continued.

Kurama and I exchanged a quick glance. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of glitter. I started to giggle when he threw it at the dean. Kurama grabbed my hand and shoved through the door and ran. We ran for three or four blocks before I keeled over in laughter. "What the hell was that?" I squeezed through giggles.

Kurama gave a sheepish grin, "Memory dust."

I gathered myself, "Looked more like glitter," I teased.

His smile faded a little, "If making my weapons look cooler made them more deadly, I would."

"I guess you're right," I admitted. "So what's first?"

Kurama looked blankly at me, "What do you mean?"

I sighed, "We were going to do something fun."

"… I don't know…"

I paused, "There must be _something_ you want to do before you die."

He tried to hide a grin, "Yes, well some things I'd rather not subject you to."

I deadpanned, "You're a pervert."

He held up his hands in defense, "Teenage boy hormones. I can't get rid of them, only ignore them."

I laughed, "Well what non-sexual things do you like to do?"

"Video games?"

I sighed, "You're hopeless."

"Well I've never been to an arcade with other people before. There's one a block down the street," he offered.

"Wait. You've never played multiplayer games at the arcade?"

"No."

"That's something you definitely have to do before you croak," I teased and started towards the arcade. We walked into the arcade and scanned the scene. It was slow and the only other customers were high school students who were also skipping class. I lead the way to the new Mario Bros. machine and popped in the coins to start the game. Kurama stood next to me silently watching. I paused and looked up at him, "Don't tell me you don't know what to do."

He grinned and rested his hands next to his character's buttons, "I'm pretty sure I know how to play Nintendo games." The game started and we started playing. By the time we died enough times for the machine to call it quits, Kurama had managed to rack almost twice as many points as me.

"Well, fuck," I groaned, "Have you played Gauntlet?"

"Actually, I haven't. It's usually swamped with school boys."

I laughed, "Tell me about it," I replied sarcastically as we made our way to the next machine. Kurama put in the coins and a menu popped up asking us to choose our characters. "Which one do you want?"

"Which one do you like the best?" Kurama retorted with another question.

"Thor. For sure," I replied easily.

"Thor?"

"Oh boy, you need some serious help. Thor is the warrior, or at least the warrior is based off of Thor."

Kurama sweatdropped blankly, "I'll try the wizard."

"It's very fitting," I teased.

He nudged me harshly and threw me off as the game started and I fell behind in the game. "You don't know who Thor is, do you?" I taunted as I tried to catch up.

"It sounds familiar," he tried.

I sighed, "At least you know who Batman is." This game managed to last way past when the usual crowd came in. When we had finally both died for the last time we realized we were surrounded by middle school and high school kids alike.

"Hey! They just got the high score on Gauntlet!" Someone shouted.

Kurama and I glanced at each other then back to the machine that was asking us for our names. I quickly typed in "SCKITBTCH" and looked back to Kurama who was shaking his head amused. I dodged through the people and left the arcade.

"Rhea?" I heard Kurama ask behind me.

"Sorry, I'm not the crowd type."

"Understandable," he accepted.

"Too bad, I kind of wanted to play Jackal too," I sighed as we started walking away from the crowded arcade.

"Now that one I do know," Kurama retorted happily.

I laughed, "Hey, you're not a total loser after all!"

Kurama refused to fuel my taunting, "Are you hungry?"

I was about to say no when my stomach grumbled. We sat at a Raman stand and ordered.

"Rhea?" Kurama asked as the chef started cooking.

I looked over to him, "Yeah?"

"What's your motive?"

I sighed. _Good Question. _"I guess… Between what you're about to do and everything you've done for me," I trailed off. I really do suck at this expression and emotion shit. I felt really awkward trying to put physical words to my thoughts. "Uh… I figured if I couldn't convince you not to go through with your plan, I could at least attempt to repay the kindness you showed me?"

Kurama laughed a little at my awkwardness as the chef placed our food in front of us. We sat in silence for a moment as I watched him stare into his bowl deep in thought. I sighed and broke apart my chop sticks and started eating. Apparently I was hungrier than I thought. When I finished, I smoked a cigarette as Kurama finished his meal. "Hey, who won the game last night?" I asked the chef.

The chef gave a light laugh, "The Dragons crushed the Giants*!"

"Awesome!" I cheered back playfully, "I would have won 10,000 yen if the bastard hadn't died a few days ago!"

The chef's eye twitched, "Huh?"

I laughed a little nervously, "I guess that's not awesome, poor guy…" I tried to sound sad, but the only sad part was I didn't make 10,000 yen off one of the drones of the late Tatsuhiro mafia. "He'll never know if he won or lost his last bet… sad indeed," I joked to myself. Kurama made a gesture telling me he was ready to go and I reached into my pocket to pay the chef. The chef waved it off, apparently Kurama had paid while I was teasing the dead. I shrugged and waved goodbye to the spooked chef as Kurama started walking away. I followed him in silence for a while trying to think of what to do next. "The sun's setting soon," I pointed out after a while.

Kurama stopped and turned to me, "Rhea." I looked up at him but didn't reply. "Are you going to mourn my death?"

"Well that was shockingly blunt," I replied taken aback. I saw his lips twitch up for a second waiting for a reply. "Uh…" I looked down searching for the answer inside my head. "I…yeah, probably."

"Why?"

"Hey, that's not fair, I don't have demon emotions made of stone like your suicidal ass," I retorted flustered.

He chuckled a little and then his smile disappeared, "I'm not worth mourning."

I stared at him confused for a moment, "If you think you're not worth mourning why are you going to force people to do it?"

The faint hint of sadness disappeared from his eyes and was replied with a cold stare, "I won't let your arguments get under my skin anymore, Rhea. I was set on going through with this until you made me second-guess myself. It's my fault my mother is in this condition, I'm just making amends for everything I've put her through," he kept a stern face but I could tell it was just a mask.

Something about the conversation was starting to piss me off. _Why? Is he _trying_ to piss me off? Of course he is; he thinks it'll keep me from being sad when he dies._ I gave in to a small smile and bowed my head to try and hide the fact that I had figured out why he started this morbid conversation. "Fine," I dug my foot into the dirt in defeat, "I might force myself to mourn just to spite you then."

"I see," he sighed, "You have me more figured out than I thought. My only regret is not meeting you sooner."

When I looked up he was looking at the sun that was threatening to crash into the earth, "Why's that?"

"Your mind is something to be admired," he smiled wearily at me.

There was another silence, "So… I guess this is goodbye?" I could feel unfamiliar emotions starting to stir inside of me. Those one's I don't feel often enough to put words to, I just know they make me feel confused and angry. It's hard to suppress them.

He nodded, "Yes." Then he gave me a more genuine smile, "Thank you."

"For what?" I could feel my brain sending signals to the rest of my body, trying to get me to react to this feeling.

"For this afternoon, I haven't enjoyed myself like that in a very long time."

"It didn't really go the way I wanted; we should have had more fun."'

"I'm sure there's enough time to have a little more fun, if you know what I mean," he winked with a smirk.

"You're a pervert!" I growled.

He laughed, "Honestly, messing with you is the most fun."

"I think I hate you," I deadpanned.

He forced himself to be stern again, "I should probably start heading towards the hospital now."

"Fine," I sighed. He turned and started walking away. It took me all but a second to realize I wanted to thank him again for what he had done for me. "Hey, wait!"

He turned back to me casually, "Yes?"

"Thank you," I managed to mutter. The feelings revealed their ugly heads again and I looked at the ground not sure how else to suppress them, "I honestly don't know what would have happened if you hadn't decided to help me. I have my family, my freedom and my life because of you. I really wish there was a way I could repay you… or thank you enough."

I felt him wrap his arms around me, "You already have," he replied softly. I felt frozen, not sure how to react. When I felt his arms release me I looked up but he was gone. _How the hell do _they _do that?!_

I sighed in defeat, "Rip… I guess?" I kicked a rock and shoved my hands into my pockets.

* * *

I don't know when I lost track of where I was going, but it happened. One minute I was walking home and the next I was wondering around the nicer areas of town. I sighed and leaned up against a wall and pulled out a cigarette. I looked up at the moon for the first time that evening. _Kurama… why?_ "For such a wise guy, you're fucking stupid," I let out under my breath as I lit my cigarette. It seemed that the square had conveniently cleared out as I entered it. There was literally no one there by the time I was half way through my cigarette. It was almost eerie, just me chilling in the dim street light against a wall… waiting for this guy to die. I sighed again as I flicked my filter into the empty sidewalk and looked back at the night sky.

A beam of light shot out from the roof of the building I was resting against and knew what it was immediately. I turned around and read the sign just to verify that I was at the hospital. Before my mind caught up with my body, I was running towards the elevators. I squeezed in as the doors shut and muttered "sorry" to the few nurses and doctors who were irritated and tired from their graveyard shifts already. The doors opened on the top floor and I ran to a staircase that was thankfully the one that lead to the roof.

I opened the door to the roof and found a boy in a green jumpsuit lying face down next to the mirror. _Well this is an interesting turn of events…_ I walked up cautiously to the boy and knelt down and started shaking him by the shoulders, "Hey, kid. You alright?" No reply. "Damn, you better not be dead."

I sat back for a moment. I watched as a woman with blue hair flew towards us on an oar. I scooted back a little just in case her landing skills weren't very good. _She was with this guy the last time I saw him._ She landed well enough and the oar disappeared. She bent down to the detective, "Y-Yusuke?" I could see tears swelling in her eyes. "Yusuke, please!"

Finally the detective groaned and sat back Indian style, "Hey, awesome! I'm still alive!" He went from looking at his hands to scratching his head. "You know, come to think of it; that didn't make a whole lot of sense, what I just did. The point was to stop the whole sad mom thing, but my mom would have been sad."

"Stupid," The girl choked back.

Yusuke was now scratching his cheek with a small grin, "But, hey! I got the Forlorn Hope back!" I started to inch away silently as they turned their attention to a now talking mirror.

"In honor of your noble deed, I fulfilled the desire without taking life." The detective and the blue haired girl inched closer to the mirror hoping it would say more as I silently stood up and continued to back away. _Please, please, please don't notice me…_

The mirror was done talking though, and they turned their attention to me. "Hey, aren't you that girl I keep seeing with Kurama?" Yusuke asked abruptly.

_Dammit!_ "I… uh," I looked back at the door, "Yeah, thanks for your help. I gotta go," I turned and ran to the door and down the stairs. I turned a corner and slowed to a regular walking pace. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to seek Kurama out or not. I was now mostly concerned with the Spirit World seeing me as an accomplice to Kurama; other than that, I didn't know what I'd say to him. I assumed he would have been mad that I was even around when he decided to use the mirror. _Come to think of it, I don't even know if Kurama's still in the hospital…_

Fate was against me though. I ran into something and backed up rubbing my head, "Dammit." I looked up to meet Kurama's deep green eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" I asked cynically.

"Supposed to be," he echoed with a light smile. I just kind of stared at him. I had no idea what to say to a man who's supposed to be dead. "Care to join me for a drink?"

"A drink?" I lifted an eyebrow in surprise, "Aren't we too young for that?"

He smirked, "Like you've never drank before," he turned and headed for the elevator.

I looked behind my shoulder to see if the spirit detective was trying to come after us but no one was in the hallway. I shrugged and caught up with Kurama as the elevator door opened and we got inside of it. "So what kind of drink did you have in mind?"

He gave a small smile, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Anything thick."

"Perfect," he replied as the elevator opened on the ground floor and we walked out into the empty square. We walked back to his house in an awkward silence. I followed him into the kitchen where he pulled out a handle of Jägermeister and two shot glasses.

"You weren't fucking around, were you?" I broke the silence in reaction to his choice.

He poured the two shots and handed me one of them, "Cheers," he replied with a grin. We tapped the bottoms of the shot glasses and threw the liquor to the back of our throats and swallowed. It was cold and thick, like cold syrup. It dripped down my throat leaving a long icy trail into my stomach. I shivered a little from the coldness and licked the last few drops of Jägermeister from my top lip.

Kurama gave a light chuckle and poured another round.

"Another?"

"Don't tell me you get drunk off of one shot," he teased.

"No," I deadpanned.

"I find it most satisfying to take shots in two's," he explained.

"Whatever floats your boat," I teased.

He handed me a second shot and we swung them back like before. I literally cringed from the icy trickle that time. Kurama laughed, "And here I thought you could drink."

"It's cold," I growled.

"That's not an excuse," he teased.

"It is for people who hate cold shit," I retorted as I handed the shot glass back to him.

"Should I warm it up for you next time?" he continued.

"Go to hell!"

"I already tried, it didn't work," he replied coolly with a smirk.

"You're an asshole," I groaned as he put away the Jägermeister and shot glasses.

He flashed me a grin and poured two small glasses of water and handed me one of them. We drank them in silence and he cleaned the glassware and put them away. His cleanly approach to entertaining people made me feel more comfortable. As I'm sure I've stated before, I have a bit of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder… and apparently Kurama did too.

"Are you ready?" he asked out of nowhere.

"For what exactly?" I replied confused.

"For me to walk you home. It would be rude of me to treat you to some alcohol and let you walk home alone," he explained.

I stared at him, "Why would I need you to walk me home? I haven't exactly been slamming down bombs* or anything."

He smiled, "It's supposed to be another gesture of kindness."

I shook my head and followed him to the door, "If you really feel the need to, I guess it'll be ok."

"You don't have too many friends, do you?" he teased after we had started walking.

"Nope. The few I had fell away when I got involved with the Mafia," I admitted.

Kurama's teasing smile faded, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, they weren't real friends anyways," I reassured him, "If I'm going to like someone enough to call them a 'friend' they best damned be supportive and there for me, no matter what. Not flee like chickens when they realize my agenda has changed."

"I guess that's a good way to look at it," he tried.

"That's the way I've always looked at it, even before my father got us involved with the mafia." Kurama remained quiet. "So what about you? Where are your friends?"

He gave me a sheepish grin, "I don't really have any."

"An entire school of kids who would probably kill to be friends with you, and you just shun all of them?"

He gave a light chuckle, "Well, when you put it like that…"

I laughed, "So why in the hell are you interested in hanging out with me?"

"It's difficult to connect with people who don't know what it's like."

"I dislike your vagueness," I warned.

"On the other side," he completed his statement.

_On the other side..._

"I see."

* * *

**Dragons and Giants**: Two baseball teams in Japan; Nagoya Chunichi Dragons and the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants

**Bombs:** Jägerbombs. A shot of Jägermeister dropped into a glass of beer (or redbull *shudder*) and then chugged. There are also Irish car bombs, skittle bombs, etc.

I'm sorry if you find my footnotes insulting in any way. I just don't want anyone to get confused from any dialog. I know there are some pretty young ones on here who might not know much about alcohol terminology... and I don't expect anyone who's not a big Japanese Baseball fan to know who the fuck the "Dragons and Gaints" are, in fact, someone might confuse the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants with the New York Giants, and that would make things even more confusing. No one wants to be caught asking "What state are the Dragons from?" XD

Oh yes, if you find a term and go "WTF" please let me know and I will clarify XD

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Sorry it's taken me so long to post this, shit hit the fan and I went "Thor" on everyone (oh, LOL! This is the chapter mentioning Thor in it XD funny how that lined up), including throwing someone into a wall and bruising (possibly hairline fracturing) their chest. :/ He more than deserved it though… -.-

Good things have come from this though! I smoke ¼ a pack a day instead of an entire pack a day and I have a beautiful electric piano now. I'm also starting to get the hang of doing everything I signed up for. Work and school are a given. But I've managed to get an apprenticeship under a photographer; I help her write her blogs and in return she teaches me about professional photography. Someone read the blog and said it sounded like an article out of Cosmo or whatever so I guess that's good cause the blog was about smiles and fashion :D … -.- So difficult to sound like a friendly person in writing. My partner in crime got off his ass and started making major advancements for the gaming company he wants to start, me being the graphic designer/public relations person… Oh yes, and on top of all that, I've been offered a gig at a show once a month to play piano/sing my stuff… There's only one problem… I don't have anything composed… yet! -.- Why do I do these things to myself?

And as I start to get a hang of all this, I come back to this. "On the Other Side." I should be writing an essay on "The Yellow Wallpaper" for my ENGL1102 class but noooo… This story just has to pop up and say "HEY! Bitch! Pay attention to me too!" But it's ok 'cause at least this story can't actually do anything to piss me off like everything else. :P

* * *

**Special Thanks:**

Thank you _The Fox Girl of Doom, mrsbeggins, _and (of course as always :3) _crossyourteez_ for reviewing (and following). Very much appreciated!

Thank you _Kataline _and _nn3887_ for following.

Thank you, my one lonely favorite by _mrsbeggins._ I'd make hearts for you but doesn't let me :/

And thank YOU for reading. :D I hope you liked it.

* * *

_If you think I should quit smoking cigarettes,__**please leave a review, favorite, and follow!**_


	5. Total Desperation Part 5

_ "I don't get it," Neema huffed and sat back glaring at her homework._

_ "What don't you get?" I scooted closer to her and took up the paper with math problems on it._

_ "Geometry is stupid," she continued to pout._

_ "Geometry is easy, I'll show you," I tried._

_ "Ok," she unfolded her arms and pointed to a trapezoid, "How do I find the height?"_

_ "Here," I picked up my pen and wrote the formula. Then I took her pencil and showed her how to change the formula around to solve for the height. "Does that help?"_

_ "Ooooh! I remember now!" she cheered, "Why does this stuff have to be so tricky?"_

_ "You have to outsmart it," I teased and went back to reading my history book._

_ "You outsmart everything," she teased back._

_ "I wish," I sighed. We heard a bump against the door and keys jingle. It was undoubtedly my father stumbling home on a grand concoction of drugs. I put my book marker in place, "Neema, you should go take a shower."_

_ She looked from the door to me. Her eyes were confused and worried. She picked up on my undertones too well. She knew something was wrong… well, more wrong than usual. It was taking our father longer to get in the door than most nights… that he actually came home. She nodded and took her homework to her room and reemerged with a towel and robe and skidded to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. I placed my history book on the coffee table as my father finally figured out how to open the door._

_ He tripped over his own feet and slammed the door shut behind him. His shoulders threatened to fall off his body. He mumbled something and came into the living area with a wavering finger pointed towards me. "Rhea," it came out of his mouth as if he were no longer human._

_ "What?" I tried to keep calm even though I wanted to kick him back out of his own apartment._

_ "That gun," he groaned, "I need it."_

_ I felt a chill run down my spine, "For what?" _

_ "I just need it!" he broke into a rage and threw a bowl that was on the kitchen counter at the television. Luckily it missed._

_ I jumped up ready to defend myself, "It's not here."_

_ "LIAR!" he hollered and lunged for me. I jumped back and he crawled like a demon across the floor and latched his clammy fingers around my ankles. "Give it to me! Obey your father!" he pulled me towards him and I fell back against the sliding glass door to our balcony that overlooked downtown._

_ "Dad!" I yelled arbitrarily as he pulled himself up over me so that I was trapped. "You can't have it! You're fucked up!"_

_ His hand came across my face and my sight went black for a second as I made contact with the floor. I felt him rip the M1911 pistol out of its hiding spot against my leg, under my middle school uniform. He stepped away from me and started yelling at someone who had obviously pissed him off enough to run home and take the gun from me by force to shoot him._

_ "Mr. Sarama."_

_ "What?" my father growled._

_ There was a light echo of a gun suppressor, a bullet hitting bone, and my father screaming and dancing in agony. I picked myself up to be greeted by, "Mr. Daichi…"_

_ "You alright?" he asked with an innocent smile._

* * *

"Rheeeaaa!" I awoke to my little sister pushing me.

"What, Neema?" I groaned and rolled over to see her.

"Daddy's very mad at you," she informed me, "He says you aren't allowed to stay out so late without calling."

"Since when—oh… right. I forgot," I deadpanned, "He's a normal father now."

I snuck out of our apartment when my father went to the bathroom and headed to school. Once again, I couldn't make it past the first few classes without sneaking off to the roof for a cigarette. I enjoyed my cigarette in peace and solitude for once. I went over the conversation I had with Kurama last night after we got to my apartment building:

_"I'm don't know what to do."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "I'm not sure how to explain it. It feels like an eternity since I was just a little girl with a normal life. I've been conditioned to be another machine in the black market. It's like… half of my world has fallen away. The 'do or die' motif is gone… I still have all of this tension built up and nowhere to release it."_

_ "Do you really want to live that way?"_

_ "I don't want to… But, I'm afraid I'll go crazy if I don't _have_ to."_

_ "I understand."_

_ "Do you?"_

_ "Yes… I miss the grotesque plains of my old existence as well."_

_ "How do you deal with it?"_

_ "By doing stupid, random tasks like wiping out the mafia and offering my life for my mother's," Kurama flashed a playful smirk._

By the time the last class came around, I had had enough and snuck back to the roof for an afternoon nap. I had almost fallen asleep when the bell rang indicating that the school day was over. I jumped up startled by the loud, obnoxious sound and lit a cigarette. _Damn, bell… All I wanted was a nap in the sun!_

It wasn't long before I noticed something weird in the sky. I raised my hand to block the sunlight from shining in my eyes as I studied the thing. A pink and blue dot. It turned and headed straight for me. If I wasn't already certain of who it was by the colors, I would have thought it was an alien spacecraft coming to abduct me. I stood up as the blue haired girl landed on the roof in front of me.

"Oh, thank goodness I found you!" she exclaimed.

I looked behind me just to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else, although I was pretty sure I was the only one up there. "Uh… me?"

"Yes, my name is Botan. I am a guide to the Spirit World," she introduced in a chipper manner.

I busted out laughing, "Lady Death has blue hair, wears a pink kimono, and her friends call her Button? That's too funny, and surprisingly, I believe you!" I laughed even harder.

"It's _Bo-tan_!" she retorted. "Will you stop laughing at me?! This is serious!" she raged.

"I'm sorry," I calmed down, "That was rude of me." I took a drag off my cigarette. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh, it's just horrible! Hiei has kidnapped Yusuke's girlfriend. I was trying to find Kurama and ask him for help; there's no way Yusuke can defeat Hiei by himself." She sang regretfully.

"Oh, thank god. I thought I was in trouble," I sighed in relief.

"Why would you be in trouble?"

"Misconceptions," I blew off easily.

Botan laughed, "No silly! I've actually been told to let you do what you want."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I guess they think you're harmless."

"As long as I stay under the radar," I admitted. "Anyways… Kurama?"

"Yes, where is he?" she snapped back to business.

"If I had to guess, I'd say he's on his way to the hospital to check up on his mom."

"Oh, I see," she trailed off thinking.

I stared at her for a second, "I, uh… can go tell him what's up… if that'll help?" I offered not sure if I really wanted to do it or not.

"Oh, yes! That would help a lot! Thank you so much!" she hopped onto her oar and flew off.

"Weirdo," I muttered before putting my cigarette out. I grabbed my bag and ran to the hospital. Luckily, I didn't have to go inside; Kurama walked out of the main entrance as I reached the square. "K— Shuichi!" I yelled to him. _I can only assume I'm not supposed to shout out his crazy nickname in a crowd of people…._

He turned and waved to me. "What's wrong," he asked when he noticed I was in a hurry.

"Well… I just had a visit with the grim reaper… who isn't very grim, might I add," I choked out trying to catch my breath.

"She sought you out?" he asked concerned.

"No, not really. She was looking for you when she found me," I corrected.

"I see," he said as his face grew more serious.

"She's asked you to help Yusuke get that sword back from Hiei. Apparently he's also kidnapped Yusuke's girlfriend," I informed him.

"That can't be good," Kurama replied with a hint of cynicism and started walking away with a disinterested eye.

"Hey!" I shouted as I ran after him, "You aren't going to help?"

"Why should I?" he replied coolly.

"Because Yusuke saved your life last night? Just saying," I replied scornfully.

Kurama sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes, I'm aware. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

_Ahh, I get it._ "I'm coming with you," I announced.

He gave me what looked like a glare, "Go home, Rhea."

"I don't take orders."

"Hiei won't spare you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Why are you so interested in tagging along?"

"To learn more about this shit."

He studied me intently, "I guess I can't argue that one… But I'm not going to wait up for you or help you if you get in trouble."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't ask you to," I replied shortly.

Kurama gave no verbal reply as he started sprinting away. _Bastard!_ I hit the ground running after him. He was fast a fuck; I could barely keep up with him. My body ached from the extreme work out I was putting it through just to keep him in my sight. After the first fifteen minutes, it was like a wave of numbness smacked into me and all of the strain from being out of shape, a smoker, and the bag on my shoulder disappeared. I was able to be more aware of my surroundings and not just focus on trying to keep Kurama in my line of vision. It became easier to catch up to him. By the time we reached the loading docks of the ship yard, I was right behind him.

Kurama stopped abruptly and I almost ran into him. "What's up?" I asked quietly.

"That scent is unmistakable," he informed me, "Hiei must be desperate to take _that_ form." His fists were clenched. _He just said "scent"… he really is a dog, isn't he?_ I mentally deadpanned.

A large group of people emerged from one of the warehouses moaning and groaning. "So, do zombies exist too?" I joked.

"They are humans being controlled by Hiei," Kurama replied. "We should try our best not to permanently hurt them."

"That's no fun," I sighed as Kurama advanced on the zombies. I cracked my knuckles and followed him into the mob. They were slow and unresponsive. It was like practicing on stuffed dummies. I gently flicked my hands at their pressure points and they fell to the ground. When I had knocked all the controlled humans out that were in front of me, I turned and took out the few that were between Kurama and me. He turned back and realized I had taken out almost twice as many as he had. His expression was verging surprise. "What?"

"You weren't kidding when you called yourself a machine where you?" he asked trying to hide his amazement.

"Pressure points," I replied simply.

"I guess mindless humans are a pretty easy target for anyone."

"I took out more than you did, Mr. Fox Demon."

"Hand-to-hand combat isn't something I particularly enjoy doing."

"For good reason," I teased.

"They're in that warehouse over there," Kurama ignored my taunt and started towards the warehouse.

Kurama pushed open the door just in time to hear Hiei's plan to kill Yusuke. "I have a great idea, how about I give you a choice?" His voice sounded deeper than before and when I peered over Kurama's shoulder, I understood why. Hiei was covered in purple eyes and his skin was green. His hair was slightly parted too. I also saw Yusuke face down on the ground bound in red… energy? _No way!_

"What?!" Yusuke egged on even in his current state of vulnerability.

The sword flew into Hiei's hand, "I can end your life now or, if you prefer, I'll make you into a demon. What's that? You want _me_ to choose?" Hiei started laughing. "Fine!" he yelled as he charged the helpless Yusuke.

Kurama took off running towards the two as I stared in awe at Hiei's un-human characteristics and the materialized energy chained around Yusuke. Kurama stopped in front of Yusuke as the sword penetrated his stomach. _Oh my god!_ I gawked in horror, as did Yusuke and Hiei.

Yusuke gasped, "Kurama?"

"You really _have_ gone insane!" Hiei greeted angrily.

With a painful smirk, Kurama split open his hand on the sword and threw blood at Hiei's face.

Hiei growled, dropped the sword and backed up screaming, "My eye! My Jagan Eye!"

_Ok… This just keeps getting weirder, doesn't it?_

"R-rhea!" I heard Botan yell to me and I ran to her. She was doing something to an unconscious girl. _That must be the girlfriend._

"I have to… keep this eye shut," she yelped in pain as her hand got even more torn up. "I can't hold it much longer!"

I wasn't sure what the fuck was going on. All I could figure out was that there were two energies battling each other; one coming from the eye on the girl's forehead and the other from Botan's hand. "I wish I knew how to help," I admitted, "I just know I can randomly corrode people's faces."

"Move," Kurama ordered as he came running towards us. I took a few steps back as he bent down next to the girl and took over Botan's job.

"You can do it too?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes," he winced in pain from his injury. I examined his back that was covered in blood. His uniform was ripped both in the front and back and I could see blood oozing from his chopped up flesh. "I'm sure," he continued, "With some training, you could as well."

"Oh," I sighed, "Well aren't I useless?"

"Not entirely," he managed to throw.

"Thanks," I deadpanned.

We heard the banging of Hiei's defeat and then saw Yusuke running towards us with the sword. Kurama backed away from the girl as Yusuke ripped apart the blade and the handle. Kurama stood up and wavered a little then began to fall back. I reached out and caught him then lowered him down against a crate. He looked up at me.

"Stood up too fast?" I offered an excuse.

He nodded, "Thanks."

I shook my head and sat down next to him. We watched intently as Yusuke dripped a liquid from inside the sword's handle into the girl's mouth. The eye that Botan and Kurama tried to keep shut slowly faded away.

"Goodbye, Keiko-monster," Yusuke sighed with relief.

"She's going to recover," Botan announced redundantly.

"I hope so," Yusuke replied then turned to Kurama and me, "Thanks for all the help, Kurama. How do you feel?"

"Good, I guess," Kurama replied with a smile, "I avoided the organs at least."

I rolled my eyes, "Because bleeding out isn't an issue," I commented sarcastically.

"And who the _hell_ are you?!" Yusuke demanded.

"Who? Me?" I asked innocently.

"No, the rat in the corner," Yusuke spat sarcastically.

I choked down a laugh, "I'm Kurama's physical manifestation of common sense."

Yusuke glared at me.

"I don't think he knows what half of those words mean," Kurama whispered.

"I…!" Yusuke began flustered, "Fuck you two!"

"I still can't believe what you did, Yusuke," Botan interjected.

"Why not?" Yusuke turned back to Botan innocently.

"Why didn't you tell me the spirit gun could bounce off mirrors? When did you learn that?" she asked curiously.

"Mmm, about ten minutes ago," he replied with a grin.

"What?!" Botan shrieked.

"Hiei was way too fast, I knew he'd be able to dodge the spirit gun unless I could shoot him from behind," Yusuke explained. "That's when I spotted the Forlorn Hope in the corner and I thought, 'hey, I'll give it a try!'"

"You weren't certain?" Kurama asked concerned while holding the contents of his stomach in place. His question brought the fact that he was bleeding out back to my attention. I took off my jacket and then the white button down shirt. I was wearing a white tank top underneath otherwise the bastard would be on his own.

"Well one time in science class they bounced light off a mirror and I thought it might be the same," Yusuke grinned innocently.

"Might?!" Botan yelled some more, "You risked our lives on a _might_?! What exactly would you have done if the spirit gun hadn't bounced off the mirror?" I started ripping the white shirt into long pieces of fabric and tying them together creating a makeshift roller bandage.

"Get chopped up into pieces, I guess," Yusuke answered happily. Botan squeaked as Kurama and I laughed.

"All the while we've been thinking you're a brilliant strategist," Kurama joked, "Really, you're just a lucky fool."

"Hey, watch it, Fox Boy!" Yusuke growled in frustration, "What's that word mean anyway?!" I keeled over laughing.

"A strategist is someone who uses his brain," Kurama taunted further.

"Hey!" Yusuke defended.

"Now, now, boys," Botan patted Yusuke's arm in a scolding manner.

I turned to Kurama with my finished makeshift bandage, "Take your jacket off."

"There's no need," Kurama resisted.

"_Take your fucking shirt off, you arrogant prick!_" I hissed.

Kurama blanched, "Yes, ma'am," and started doing so. Yusuke and Botan stared for a second wide eyed.

"So who are you again?" Yusuke asked more timidly as I started wrapping up Kurama's stomach.

"I'm Rhea Sarama. An eleventh grade student at Meiou High School," I answered loosely.

"So…" apparently Kurama wasn't the only one I had growled into submission, "How do you two know each other, exactly?"

"Well we _are_ wearing the same uniform," Kurama pointed out to the oblivious people in the room.

"Yeah, I've noticed the cross-dressing, thank you," Yusuke retorted sarcastically.

"Frilly skirts aren't my style," I shot back as I finished up the bandage. I stood up and put my jacket back on.

Botan and Yusuke followed suit. "I guess I'll stay here and wait for someone to come pick up Hiei, you should take Keiko home before she wakes up and starts asking questions," Botan announced to Yusuke. I extended my hand to Kurama. He took it but struggled to lift himself so I bent down and wrapped my arm under his shoulder and helped him up.

"How the hell are you going to get home?" I asked scornfully.

"I'll make it," he reassured me and stepped away to show he could support himself.

I sighed, "I'll escort you," I offered in a demeaning way.

"There's really no need," he protested.

"This conversation is starting to sound a lot like the one we had last night."

"Oooh, what happened last night?" Yusuke cut in teasingly.

"I fucked your mother in the ass with a razor dildo," I snapped at Yusuke.

Kurama buried his laughter into his hand.

"Secretive bastards," Yusuke grumbled to himself as he left the warehouse holding his sleeping girlfriend.

* * *

We were about two blocks from his house when Kurama doubled over. I looked back and rushed to his side, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he tried. He obviously wasn't. His uniform was drenched in his own blood and beads of sweat were rolling off his face.

"Stop acting so proud, I told you that you were going to bleed out," I took his right arm and swung in over my shoulder and wrapped my left arm around his back and pulled him back to his feet. He tried to support himself but he couldn't. I held his arm in place around my neck and started guiding him back to his house. He turned the key and unlocked the door and I helped him inside. I released my grip on him to close and lock the door behind us. When I turned back around he was sprawled out on the ground.

I nudged his shoe with mine, "Does that first aid kit of yours have something for this?"

"It's in my closet in my bedroom," he replied weakly.

I stepped over him and ran up the stairs and into his bedroom. I opened his closet to look for the first aid kit. His clothes were neatly hung and organized, as were his shoes, towels, and whatever else you'd find in an average closet. I knelt down and noticed a line that ran up the left wall of the closet. "Clever," I mused to myself as I pushed it and it popped open revealing the first aid kit and some other random things. It was dark and time was blood so I didn't bother studying them. I snatched the first aid kit and ran back down the stairs.

I knelt down next to him and opened the kit, "Ok, now what?"

"There are two vials labeled 'fatal' and 'blood'," he answered weakly.

I picked up the vials, two at a time until I found the one's he had mentioned. "Here," I offered them to him.

He lifted his head for a second then let if fall back to the floor, "pour a drop of each into your hand and rub them together then place them on the wound."

"You can't be serious," I deadpanned.

"I'm dying, remember?" he joked.

"Now that you mention it, I guess this is what you get for cheating death last night," I retorted as I found a pair of scissors in the kit.

"Perhaps so," he replied with a weary smile. I cut away the bandages I had wrapped around him earlier and followed his directions. After rubbing the liquids together in my hands I gently placed them over the gaping hole in his stomach. He winced in pain as my hands made contact with the bloody wound. His blood quickly started seeping through my hands and fingers.

"Great," I groaned in distaste, "Now what?"

"Just stay there, the remedies only work with my energy," he answered. I looked back at his wound that rested under my hands. I watched as the blood that had been dancing between my fingers started flowing back into his body the same way it had leaked out.

I groaned, "This is _exactly_ what I want to be doing on a Tuesday night, getting covered in some guy's blood."

Kurama snorted, "This too," he raised his hand that he had split open.

I sighed and lifted one of my hands from the sticky mess and laced my fingers with his.

"I'm sure there are worse things that could have happened today," he replied.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"You could be in my position."

"I would not."

"You think so?"

"I know so," I retorted, "See, instead of throwing myself into death's arms, I have a gun. Which I'm sure would have worked just as well. It might not have killed Hiei, but it would have definitely stopped him from killing Yusuke."

"Unfortunately, I don't have a gun handed down to me from my slave master."

"I should have let you die," I deadpanned.

Kurama's hand jerked back to the ground and took me along with it, I gasped in horror as I found myself lying on top of him, now soiling my own uniform thoroughly. "God dammit!" I cried and yanked my hand from his grasp and sat back. He was unconscious. "Oh, shit," I pressed my fingers against his jugular. He had a normal pulse. "I guess… he just passed out?" I studied him and noticed that his wounds were completely healed; he was just covered in blood that didn't make it back inside his body. His chest rose and fell as if he were just sleeping. _Guess that's what the "Blood" vial was for…_

I sighed and went to the kitchen sink to wash the blood off of my hands. I toyed with the idea that I was just going crazy and none of this actually existed as I scrubbed away the blood. _Maybe I _am_ just going crazy… I potentially just imagined drenching myself in someone else's blood…_ I looked back at Kurama. _I have absolutely no desire to drench myself in that guy's blood… Maybe I'm not going crazy…_ I put the first aid kit back together and put it back where I found it. As I walked back down the stairs, I noticed that the formerly unconscious Kurama was sitting on the staircase.

"You alright, there?" I asked as I sat down next to him.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he smiled sheepishly.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you stayed conscious _that_ long."

He chuckled, "I'm surprised I needed your help to stay alive."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I retorted defensively.

"Nothing against you," he held his hands up in defense.

I sighed, "Can I ask you a strange question?"

"That one's pretty strange in itself," he teased.

"Jerk."

"What is it?"

"Can I borrow a shirt? I don't think walking home like this is a good idea…"

Kurama let out a small laugh, "Sure."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

"Blood, blood, blood  
Pump mud through my veins  
Shut your dirty, dirty mouth  
I'm not that easy

Blood, blood, blood  
Pump mud through my veins  
I'm a dirty, dirty girl  
I want it filthy"

-"Blood" by In This Moment.

Well that was _my_ first reaction after reading this chapter XD What's yours?

God, is my writing really that pathetic? I mean, I know my style is different than what's common around here, but come on! Just 'cause it's different doesn't mean it's bad, right? I know what it is: I really suck at summaries. Anyone want to help me out? XD Now that there are 5 chapters and you can kind of… sort of… see what's going on? Ish? Maybe? XP

Maybe this fandom is just dead, I can accept that :/

Well, that was my self-pity rant. Did you like it? XD So this chapter was originally shorter; it has more going on in it, and obviously more familiar to you. XD So I went back and added everything after Yusuke dipped out with Keiko.

I'm serious about that summary thing though. If anyone's got a good one, please share it. I just changed it to "A darker perspective of the Yu Yu Hakusho series... I'm really bad at summaries... So listen to your mom: Don't judge books by their covers. Click this freaking hyperlink and read the story."

* * *

**Special Thanks:**

This chapter is being published shortly after chapter 4 so there aren't many "thank you"s to be had…

Thank you for the review, the lovely _crossyourteez._ Much love to you for your support :3

And a big **Thank You** to _Dabizful_ for the favorite! Now I have two! (Suck it bitchezzzz) XD

* * *

And fuck the rest of you anonymous browsers out there who don't like it. You're just jelly 'cause I write better than you! (Had to refrain from typing an Eminem quote.) XD

I'm just playin'. I love you guys! (I guess that's an Eminem quote too… I really need to listen to someone else when I'm driving to work XD) You should _**Review, favorite and follow**_ for more of this *gestures to myself*. I know you're thinking about it. :D


	6. Total Desperation Part 6

_ The bag of hands sat next to my feet drenched in blood. I was sitting motionless on the couch in the back or Mr. Daichi's shop. I could hear moans and groans occasionally breach my lips as I sat petrified by the events that had taken place earlier that night._

_ Mr. Daichi came up to me with a warm, wet cloth, "Here," he offered gently. I reached out my shaky hands and took the cloth and started dabbing away at the blood I was covered in. Mr. Daichi sighed and sat down next to me, "Rhea…"_

_ "I know," I quietly interrupted him; "It's just part of the job." Mr. Daichi sat back quietly. "They aren't the first people I've killed."_

_ Mr. Daichi fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter, "Well, I know this isn't a very good way of putting it, but… you'll get used to it."_

_ "I know…"_

_ He lit his cigarette and exhaled a large amount of smoke._

_ "Why do you smoke?"_

_ "It helps calm me down, not in a very healthy way, but it allows for a bit of _me_ time."_

_ "How's that?"_

_ "Well," he stretched out on his side of the couch and took another drag, "When I light this cigarette, I'm no longer a hardened criminal who'll do anything for another meal. I'm just another loser counting down the days of my life. Any type of person can be a smoker… business men, house wives, pigs, college students, cashiers, etcetera, etcetera."_

_ "I see."_

_ "You do?"_

_ "Yes. You're just bad at explaining things."_

_Mr. Daichi laughed, "Your father said the same thing."_

_ "May I try one?"_

_ "What?" Mr. Daichi exclaimed, "Aren't you only thirteen?"_

_ "Only for a two more weeks," I corrected, "Besides, the black market doesn't care how old I am, so why should a cigarette?"_

_ "I guess you have a point," Mr. Daichi gave in and handed me the pack and the lighter, "And I'm not your father so I don't care." Mr. Daichi covered up his momentary lapse into concern. I quietly took the cigarette out of the pack and flicked the lighter on and lit the cigarette. As I exhaled the smoke, I let out one measly little cough and that was the end of that. Mr. Daichi laughed, "That's it?"_

_ "What?" I looked at him curiously._

_ "I nearly coughed up a lung the first time I hit a cigarette!" he exclaimed, "I guess you were meant to smoke these…"_

_ I looked at the cigarette in my hand and held it up to my lips again. I inhaled and then exhaled slowly. I felt the warm smoke suffocating my lungs and sent tingly feelings through my body to my fingers and toes and head. I sat back with a sigh and closed my eyes. "I like this," I replied simply with a small smile. It was like floating away into my own little realm where nothing mattered except for me, the tobacco, and the smoke that would cause my death… if nothing else._

* * *

I sighed and closed my notebook. _I always seem to forget to bring some food for lunch…_ I silently stood up and left the classroom filled with giggles and playfulness. _A cigarette on a silent roof is more enjoyable anyways…_ The roof was not silent. I opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight and found a rather interesting scene; two girls cornering Kurama. I approached quietly as I honed in on the conversation.

"Why not, Schuichi?" one of the girls whined, "Am I not good enough?"

"What about me?" the other girl broke in.

Kurama put his hands up in mock defense, "Ladies, please, that's not it at all." He was having a hard time fighting them off. I had to focus on keeping a straight face as I closed in. "I just don't have enough time right now to be dating anyone."

"That was your excuse last year in middle school," the first girl reminded him.

Kurama looked to me with pleading eyes. I grinned and cleared my throat right behind the two girls.

They turned to see who it was and their faces grew into expressions of horror, "M-miss… S-sarama… We're sorry!" They took off running back inside.

I started laughing, "Apparently I have quite a rep in your class!"

"Yes, indeed you do," Kurama was trying to hide a grin as well; "They love the rumors."

"Rumors?" I turned back to him, "Oh, please tell me what they are!" I replied enthusiastically hoping to get another laugh.

"Silly things like slaying twenty people in the art room."

"We have an art room?" Kurama chuckled a little. "I should come up here more often, watching little girls torture you is hilarious!" He glared at me. "Why were they drooling over you anyway?"

"Didn't I tell you? I'm a total chick magnet," Kurama replied with a gaudy grin and a mock straightening of his jacket.

Even though I knew it was a joke, I couldn't keep my face from expressing disgust, "Riiight…" I dug into my pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. _So much for a silent and enjoyable smoke…_ I lit one up and took a long drag. Kurama slithered over and snatched the cigarette out of my hand and tossed it over the fence. "He-_ey_!" I yelled and wined at the same time.

"Smoking is bad for you," he smiled innocently.

"Thank you, ass hole! I already knew that!" I huffed and pulled out my pack of cigarettes again. Kurama took the entire pack out of my hands this time and held them above his head. I contemplated crawling on him to get it back but reminded myself that it was probably a horrible idea. "What did I do to deserve this shit?"

"Nothing," he smiled, "But I won't agree train you until you quit."

"Train?" I perked up, "As in so… me powers get stronger and shit?"

He chuckled a little, "Essentially."

"Hmm," I pondered the offer, "This might be an acceptable trade off…"

"Good," he turned towards the fence.

"WAIT!"

He turned back curiously.

"Just one more cigarette?" I put on my best pleading face, which I was aware was pathetic. He sighed and handed me a cigarette from the pack then tossed the rest over the fence. I winced as I watched and lit my last cigarette. "Jerk," I grumbled. He then took the cigarette from me again, "Dude! What the _fuck_?!"

"Relax," he replied coolly, "I just want to try it." He brought the cigarette up to his lips and took a small puff then proceeded to cough the smoke out. "Why," he continued to cough, "Would you do that to yourself?"

I laughed and took the cigarette back, "I guess I'm just a masochist." I took a long drag.

"Oh?" he lifted an eyebrow.

"I refuse to humor you," I deadpanned.

He swallowed a grin and let it go, "Meet me at the park after school to start training," he announced before going back inside.

I stuck my tongue out childishly after him.

* * *

I don't remember much of the first few days of training; I was consumed by anger and withdrawal symptoms from quitting cold turkey. I was coached to do the most ridiculous and seemingly redundant tasks ever. After the first week, Kurama re-introduced Hiei to me. He had been sentenced to remain inside our city limits for a decade. (Kurama reassured me that it was not that long of a sentence for a demon.) So, Hiei had nothing better to do than help with training basically. We also had a nice visit with Botan who brought news of Kurama's punishment… and mine.

"Wait why am _I_ being punished again?" I growled.

"Because you've been proven guilty as an accomplice to Kurama, Hiei, and Gouki," Botan informed me.

"Because burning a guy's face off means 'I love you' in Demon World?" I spat sarcastically. "You're full of shit! You said you faggots didn't care about what I did!" I had Botan by the collar of her kimono and a clenched, raised fist.

"Rhea," Kurama tried from somewhere behind me.

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this but," Botan tried to save her ass from my wrath, "You're not actually being accused of doing anything, it's just a convoluted scheme of Koenma's. Yusuke's going through a mandatory six month training program and we need a stand-in Spirit Detective. Kurama can't technically hold the title because he's a demon."

"So you're just going to force me to do it?" I hissed, refusing to release Botan or lower my fist. "You jack asses realize I have no idea how to use my corrosive power, right?"

Botan laughed nervously.

"This would be a good way to learn more about why you can't use your powers at will," Kurama wrapped his hand around my wrist and forced me to lower my fist that threatened to smash into Botan's face at any second.

I sighed and shoved Botan away from me, "Fine. First I get screwed by the mafia; now I'm getting screwed by the Afterworld. Fucking terrific."

"I thought you would jump at an opportunity like this," Kurama retorted calmly.

"Yeah, if I'm not being _forced_ into it and I actually had some power to protect my ass from this otherworldly bullshit," I snapped.

"To be honest, your skills from the mafia should be plenty, for the most part," Botan threw in trying to cheer me up.

"I get it," I turned back to her, "You're obviously telling us this now because you want to send us on a mission so give it to us then shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of my face."

Botan sighed, "His name is Kouta. He portrays a successful businessman for the Minowa Company by day and traffics women at night." She pulled out a picture of him and handed it to me. "Rumor is, he's about to make a huge sale for the company that will send the Japanese economy into turmoil so he has to be captured alive A.S.A.P. and forced to cancel the transaction. Then we can take him into custody and handle the rest in Spirit World."

I deadpanned, "I can't even kill the bastard?"

"Only as a last resort. He set up this transaction with an unknown party and it would be a lot less messy for everyone if we didn't have to get an innocent human from the company involved in the cancelation."

"You irk me."

Botan fabricated and hopped onto her oar, "I'm really sorry about the way they're doing things up there, Rhea. We really appreciate you helping out. I promise you'll start to like this job in no time," she offered as she floated away.

I turned to Kurama who held up his hands in defense, "I hate you."

"Aren't you the one who was complaining about not living a double life last week?"

I sighed and sat down on a tree trunk that had been knocked down during training earlier that week, "I guess so. I just hate the way they presented it. They could have just asked instead of being cunts about it." I flipped the picture over. It had addresses and other things scribbled onto it. I could only assume that they were Kouta's normal spots. Hiei grunted after a moment and disappeared. _I guess he doesn't want to help…_

* * *

Rhea turns and looks at you, "Let's be honest. No one gives a fuck about the shit that happens to me while Yusuke is in his six month training ordeal. Do you really want to read another six chapters of Kurama and me bickering back and forth while trying to take down small time demon criminals? No, you don't. Or do you? _goodenoughtheopendoor _is yelling at me… She says, "if they (you) review and say you DO want to know, she'll make them into intros for Part 2," like she's doing in Part 1 chapters with the _italicized_ snippets of my mafia days—

**A/N: God dammit, Rhea! Sit your ass down and shut the hell up, bitch! (rofl XD anyone watch Rupaul's Drag Race?) I'm telling a story here! Sorry about that, guys. Where was I? Oh, so, six months later…**

* * *

The bell rang for lunch and I headed for the roof. Health had a completely different meaning to me now. My flab had been turned into muscle and I no longer tripped over my own feet. I could jump an entire flight of stairs without even wincing. The only thing that didn't seem to improve was my actual spirit power. In fact, I think it has some type of artificial intelligence. It learned rather quickly that Kurama and Hiei weren't trying to kill me and it stopped working during our training sessions. It was quicker to respond to actual danger though, which I guess was a good thing. I had a well-kept secret though. When I concentrated hard enough, I could feel a tingly, almost burning sensation in the tips of my fingers. I could literally feel the energy trying to break through whatever barriers kept it pent-up inside of me.

I opened the door to the roof and counted the number of girls surrounding Kurama. Five. It was hard not to burst into laughter when I found Kurama being cornered by the girls from his class. I was strolling over to spook them when I realized they weren't begging him to go out… well sort of. They were hounding him about _me_. My eyes grew wide as I debated whether I could get away unnoticed.

"What makes _her_ so cool?" one of them was questioning.

"Are gangsters appealing to you?" another girl asked moronically, "She's a lowlife, Shuichi!"

I rolled my eyes. _I've had enough of this. This is _my_ roof. _My_ turf. Fuck these first years._ I walked over quietly.

"Ladies, please," Kurama was attempting to get them to go away. "All those things you hear about Miss Sarama are just rumors."

"So you _do_ like her!" one retorted.

"That's not what I said at all," I could hear Kurama's cool threaten to slip in the undertones of his voice.

I threw my arms around two of the girls, "So just how much _do_ you know about me? Why don't you girls come with me and I'll show you just how _low_ I really am." I got up close and personal with one of them before they turned and ran inside, one of them screaming. I started laughing my head off, "Did you see that one chick's face?"

I finally got over myself and sat down next to Kurama. He was studying something in his hand. "Hey, I saw a few of those things on the way to school this morning."

"Yes, I did as well," Kurama replied dryly still studying the thing.

"What are they?"

"They're called Makai insects," Kurama answered. "This specific species will take over weak minded humans and cause them to be unaware and aggressive."

"A.K.A. zombies," I sat back, "Does that mean we're about to have a zombie apocalypse?"

"Yes and no," Kurama replied flatly. _He is just _no_ fun today…_ I sat back up and studied him. I could tell after a second that he wasn't his normal, calm, and almost careless self. These bugs were really getting to him. "It might seem like a zombie apocalypse but they won't be thirsty for blood, and a bite will not infect anyone else. Someone brought these bugs here, and if they stay it'll become Armageddon simply because no one will know how to react."

"How do we stop it?"

"Whoever has sent them here has to call them back."

"I really dislike what you just said."

"I didn't particularly enjoy saying it."

We agreed to meet back on the roof after school to figure out more about the insects. I could hardly pay attention for the rest of the school day. I was restless with anticipation. This was something new and different from the small time criminals Kurama and I booked for the last six months for Yusuke while he was in some special training. Not to mention, to see Kurama stirred up by something as small as a bug made me worry. I was also scared, and almost ready to admit it. _What if these insects really do bring Armageddon?_

I got to the roof fast enough after class to beat Kurama. _Must have gotten caught up with his groupies…_ As I waited I scanned over the city, daydreaming about the end of the world. I heard a light buzzing by my left ear and felt the air between the bug and I ignite, of sorts. I looked down at the twitching Makai insect next to my foot and bent down to study it. It kicked and squirmed on its back. I decided to poke it. I felt my finger tingle as it made contact with the bug; then my finger got hot and the bug eroded into nothing. It was a gruesome and fast decay.

I felt my face stretch as a giant grin grew across it. My power _was_ becoming more available to my consciousness. It might take another five years to use it as an offensive attack, but hey, it's a start…

Kurama stood next to me, "Should I ask why you're grinning at the floor?"

I jumped up a little started and excited, "Kurama! It's awesome!" He looked at me curiously. I looked around and found another bug a few yards away. "Watch," I said as I went up to it and poked it. It started to fall but vanished before it hit the ground. "Yes!" I threw my hands up in delight.

Kurama chuckled, "You're hardly the one for random bursts of excitement."

I walked back, "I know, it's lame…" I sighed.

"Exterminating bugs?" he assumed innocently.

"Yes. Finally, after six months of vigorous training I can exterminate bugs. I've always wanted to be an exterminator!" I played aggravated.

"Well today's your lucky day," Kurama joked back.

I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't a bug though; it was the door handle. Kurama and I watched as a not-so-unexpected person emerged from behind the door. She had blue hair pulled back and an alternative red outfit.

"Button!" I called to her, "Hey, I like that jacket."

Botan came running over to us, "Oh, hi, Rhea! Thank you!" she posed. "It's Botan, by the way." I half rolled my eyes. "Kurama," Botan turned to Kurama.

"Is this about the Makai insects?" he asked calmly.

"Yes," Botan answered simply, "They were sent here by the Four Saint Beasts."

Kurama's expression morphed into one of shock, "Why?"

"They sent a message to Koenma saying they wouldn't call them off unless we let them into the Human World." Botan sighed, "Yusuke already went to stop them, but I'm afraid he can't do it all by himself."

"So you're asking for my help," Kurama pushed the conversation along.

"Yes, and Hiei too. I know you guys have training with him," Botan pushed in return.

"I don't know if I'll be able to find him," Kurama admitted.

"He's over there," I pointed to a building a block down the road.

Kurama looked questioningly at me then behind me. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to snitch?" Hiei growled. You can imagine how a barking dog loses his intimidation after half a year of never biting. I ignored him.

"Hiei," Kurama greeted a little surprised, "I wouldn't have expected you to accept so easily."

"Don't contort my motif, Kurama," Hiei snarled, "These insects are interfering with my sleep."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Botan chirped in, "Koenma said he'd cut down your sentences if you help Yusuke."

"Does that mean I'll be able to leave this wretched town?" Hiei more demanded than asked.

"No," Botan admitted, "But you won't have to stay here as long."

"Hmph."

"Sounds like a fair deal," Kurama translated.

"Oh, good!" Botan cheered, "Follow me. I'll take you to the portal Koenma opened for this mission." We left the high school and ran through the back streets of the city.

At some point Kurama fell behind to chat, "How did you know where Hiei was?"

"I always know where he is," I replied casually while sprinting. Every single time I start running I remember what it was like before I started training with Kurama and quitting smoking. Back then it was like trying to run out of a bottomless pit with cinderblocks tied to my ankles; now, I felt more like Flash Gordon... well… then let's not even try to find a metaphor for Hiei…

"But he was masking his energy," Kurama retorted.

"Yeah, I sensed that too, it's just a cloudy feeling instead of a sharp one," I admitted.

"How?"

"I don't know!"

"You're spirit awareness never ceases to amaze me," he announced.

"I guess I have you to thank for that. Wanna help me learn to use my spirit _power_ now, please?"

Botan stopped abruptly and opened a door. We followed her into a dark storage room where she proceeded to open a trap door on the floor. Beyond the trap door was nothing but glowing green plasma. It smelt like death. "Here you go, boys," Botan sat back and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Kurama peered over the opening to analyze it.

"Can I come?" I asked hoping that Kurama was distracted enough to agree.

"No."

"But—"

"Your help is needed here, isn't that right, Botan?" Kurama turned to her.

_Jerk, I see what you did there…_

"Oh, yes!" Botan accepted the offer, "I'd love the help!"

"See, Rhea?" Kurama turned back to me with an eat-shit grin, "Didn't you say you always wanted to be an exterminator?"

"It was a joke," I deadpanned.

"I'm sorry," Kurama offered.

I sighed, "It's okay, I understand. But one of these days I better get to go through an eerie portal too, okay?!"

He chuckled and jumped into the abyss. Hiei followed suite.

Botan closed the door and stood back up. "Okay," she cheered, "Now let's go kill some bugs!"

"Yay…"

* * *

**So yeah… short… I know… filler… probably but necessary I guess. SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED. I had some major writer's block going on. XD I'm good now, though. Expect these to shoot out my ass for the next couple of chapters.**

**With that being said; I only had 4 reviews. Do I have to go back to threatening you guys? I can get Rhea Sarama up in here if I have to… but we don't want a crazy bitch waiving a loaded pistol in anyone's face so please leave a review. :P**

**Here are my many THANK YOUS:**

**Reviews: Gimei, Kaori Minamino, coolstorybro7, & Just 2 Dream of You**

**Favorites: coolstorybro7, MiyaKasumi, & Just 2 Dream of You**

**Follows: Gimei & coolstorybro7**

**(The only action I've gotten from 2-26-13 when I posted the last chapter.)**

**IDK what happened to crossyourteez, but I love you :3**

* * *

_**SO HERE WAS (AND STILL IS) MY ORIGINAL PLAN FOR POSTING THIS CHAPTER:**_

_**FOR EVERY REVIEW I GET, IT'S ONE LESS CIGARETTE I SMOKE! :D**_

_**WHO WANTS TO HELP ME QUIT?**_

_**I'LL UPKEEP MY END OF THE DEAL IF YOU DO!**_

_**IT'S REALLY SIMPLE: JUST REVIEW... A LOT...**_


	7. Total Desperation Part 7

_ I sighed and double checked my watch for the twelfth time. 10: 53 pm. _Mr. Yoshiki was supposed to be here twenty-three minutes ago…_ I checked my posture and glared at the door waiting for it to open. Mr. Yoshiki is a very important client of the Tatsuhiro gang. I was to meet him in this back room of the Bonsai Club to hand over ten kilos of meth for one million yen. Buying in bulk is obviously the way to go. The room was poorly lit and musty from smoke. I pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and a lighter and lit one up. I studied the smoke that gently swirled up off the cherry. If I stood perfectly still, the smoke would create lucid designs in the air. But as soon as I moved to take another drag, the swirls crashed into each other and puffed out around my head._

_ The door swung open and a big, broad man in a brown suit followed by two leaner men in grey suits strode in. "Sorry we're late, hope we haven't inconvenienced you _too_ much," Mr. Yoshiki started chuckling as he lit up a cigar. I stood up slowly trying to make it seem like I was too shy to look him in the eye, but really I was studying their hands. "So where's my Hiropon*?"_

_ I picked up a rather large suitcase that had been sitting next to me, "Where's my money?"_

_ Mr. Yoshiki started to chuckle, "What makes you think I was going to hand over a million to a little, scrawny thing like you?"_

_ "Are you implying that you plan to rob me?" my eyes picked up the two silent men's well hidden motions to their belts._

_ "Not just implying," Mr. Yoshiki snapped his fingers. The two silent men dug into their holsters as I dropped the suitcase and reached for my pistol. The three of us drew at about the same time, but what they were lacking in was the agility of a young teenager. I pulled the trigger twice at the guy on the left, who seemed to be the weaker of the two, and ducked under the coffee table. I watched the man hit the floor and blood splatter then turned to locate the other grey suit. He was rounding the lounge chair to grab the suitcase full of drugs. I twisted back towards the case and placed my hand on the handle of it to pull myself up as I made eye contact with the man and pulled the trigger. He dropped his gun and stumbled back against the wall and slid down leaving a streak of blood down the wall to his body._

_ "What the _hell_ are you?!" Mr. Yoshiki cried out in terror as he soaked in what had just happened in less than five seconds._

_ I stood back up and wiped the few specs of blood that had hit my cheek, "I'm commonly referred to as 'Tatsuhiro's Girl,' but I'm not too fond of that name."_

_ Mr. Yoshiki started laughing nervously, "You should come work for me; I can give you better weapons than that old, beaten up pistol."_

_ "I chose to use this M1911," I raised it towards him and he started whimpering. He was drenched in sweat and frantically looking for an escape._

_ I pulled the trigger five times just to empty the magazine._

* * *

Botan closed the trap door that led to the Four Saint Beasts and stood back up. "Okay," she cheered, "Let's go kill some bugs!"

"Yay," I replied sarcastically as we walked back out into the alley. We searched for hours trying to kill the bugs and incapacitate infected people. The bugs were hard to find amongst the crowds of people everywhere. Their energy was so low I could barely sense them when they were right next to me. Dealing with the infected people was way worse. Botan strictly said not to harm them… too bad. They were still innocent people after all. We had to lure them into the allies, then I took over (usually with a few good punches to some pressure points) to knock them out. Then we'd tie them up and report them anonymously to the cops. They're better off locked up for the week. Botan reassured me that Koenma would handle the arrested zombies after Yusuke and the gang defeated the Four Saint Beasts.

By nine p.m. we had killed eight insects and booked twelve zombies— pretty lousy if you ask me. Regardless, we decided to turn in for the night. I invited Botan to stay at my place. When we got to my apartment, my father and sister were already in bed. Botan and I sat on the couch with some leftovers and turned on the news. We learned that the zombies we put away were transported to the hospital and the infestation was becoming a new epidemic. _That hospital's gonna fill up real quick…_

Botan jumped when we heard banging from my father's room. My little sister came out rubbing her eyes, "Daddy?" My father burst through the door at that point. His skin was pale and he was drooling, much like the other zombies. He growled and I lunged for my sister. I pushed her back into her room as my father grabbed me by the hair. Not cool. I shut the door to my sister's room and turned to face my father who was raising his free fist. I punched him square in the nose and he released his grip and fell backwards.

"K.O. bro," I replied while rubbing my head.

"Rhea?" I heard Neema cry, "I'm scared!"

"It's ok," I replied trying not to sound short, "It's safe to come out now."

She cracked the door open and stared at our unconscious, zombie father. I turned to Botan who had also been staring in horror, "Botan, help me with this thing, will ya?"

She nodded and came over to us. "Is he… dead?"

"No," I snorted, "If anyone can survive my beatings, it's him. Believe me, this is not the first time I've had to lay him out."

"Oh, my," Botan replied, "Is he abusive?"

"No, just stupid," I answered as I picked him up by the shoulders. Botan picked up his feet and we threw him onto the bed. I found the handcuffs I used to tie him up over half a year ago and did so once again. "Last time I did this, he was overdosing on heroine."

"Are you serious?" Botan asked surprised. "He does drugs?!"

"He used to."

"What happened?"

"Kurama happened."

Botan looked at me very confused.

"I have no idea what he did to my father but it worked. He's clean and can hold a real job now. Before Kurama came along, I was the head of the household."

"That sounds awful."

"Try frightening."

"Why?"

"Over two years ago my dad had a bad run in with a gang. They took control of our lives. My father was supposed to sell drugs for them, but instead, he took them. That's when I took over to protect my sister from them. I dealt drugs for a year and a half while taking care of my sister and my father."

"I don't understand how Kurama fits into all this," Botan admitted, shock and horror plastered on her face.

"One day, the mafia cracked and kidnapped my sister after my father spent the drug money on prostitutes. The next day at school Kurama caught me crying on the roof. That night the mafia was mysteriously annihilated, Batman saved my sister, and the next morning my father was a normal, functioning man."

"Batman?" Botan caught.

I laughed a little, "It's in inside joke we have."

"Batman!" Neema cheered at the doorway. We both looked over to her. "Batman saved me! I remember that! You know Batman's true identity?"

"No, of course not," I sweatdropped.

"Oh," Neema sighed, "Well, what happened to daddy?"

"He's very sick, but he'll be okay," I reassured her. "Come on, it's time to go back to bed." I escorted her back to her room and tucked her in. I came back into the family room where Botan found her spot on the couch.

"Why did Kurama do all of that?" she picked the conversation back up.

"I still don't know," I admitted, "I probably never will."

"That's lame," Botan huffed. "I think he likes you," she teased.

"Erm… what?" I choked a little taken back.

Botan giggled, "Why else would he do all of that?"

"I just said I didn't know," I replied quickly, "He _was_ planning on killing himself a few days later, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Botan put a finger to her lips as she recalled her first encounters with Kurama and me. "I still think he likes you."

"I doubt it."

"He doesn't seem to show interest in any other girls, does he?"

I sweatdropped, "Heh… I don't think so."

"Do you think he's gay?"

I erupted into laughter, "That's a good possibility!"

Botan eyed me over, "You know something about him, don't you?"

"Why, you like him?" I lifted an eyebrow.

Botan pulled back blushing, "Well, no… I mean… I'm technically dead, so I don't really look at guys like that."

I laughed again, "Good night, Button."

"It's Botan!" she tied not to yell. "Hey, wait! You like him, don't you?!"

"Does it matter?" I looked back at her from my bedroom door, "I'm not mentally stable enough to be in a relationship like that anyways."

Botan's face blanched as her mind started making connections, "Oh… I'm sorry, Rhea. I didn't mean to…"

"Don't worry about it," I smiled as warmly as possible. "Good night, Button."

"Botan!" she shrieked as I closed the door behind me.

* * *

The next morning I was awoken by my hollering father. Botan and I ran into his room. He was still chained up but was thrashing around and yelling obscurities. I searched through his closet and found quite a bit of rope. Botan and I fastened him to the bed with it and then I tied a handkerchief around his mouth. Neema walked in sleepily as we finished up and we quickly scurried her back out of the room. We got Neema ready for school and dropped her off. I went to class to survey the students while Botan surveyed the streets.

It was almost lunch time when a loud chirping went off in the class room. No one, including the teacher, seemed to hear it. I looked around then dug into my pocket and pulled out a little purple compact mirror. Botan had given it to me before I went to class. A light on the thing was blinking in unison with the chirping. I looked around again. Not a single person reacted to it. I quietly stood up and walked out of the room. I flipped it open and Botan was on the screen.

"Rhea!" she shouted.

"Yes?" I peered out of the corner of my eye to double check that I was alone in the hallway.

"I need your help!"

"What's wrong?"

"I think the Four Saint Beasts launched another wave of insects!"

I was already toning her out when I noticed the backdrop on the screen, "Hey, is that my sister's school?"

Botan looked behind her, "Yes, there's loads of insects here too!"

"I'll be right there," I snapped the mirror shut and slid it into my pocket as the dean turned the corner.

"Miss Sarama," he greeted harshly.

"I have to go," I turned to him, "My sister is ill." The dean growled and drool hit the floor. "Figures," I deadpanned. He lunged for me and I round kicked his head into the wall. "Sorry, Deany, I don't have time for your bullshit right now." I looked around once more to make sure no one witnessed what I had just done and took off running for the elementary school. I incinerated at least twenty insects on the way.

"Botan!" I called as we met at the entrance.

"As far as I know, they haven't gotten inside yet," she informed me.

"Have you told Yusuke?"

"No, not yet. I was concerned about your sister."

"Thank you," I replied more calmly, "I'm going to pull her out of class ant take her home."

"Ok," Botan agreed, "Call me on the mirror when you're done."

"Got it," I waved it off and ran to the door of the elementary school. Getting my sister out of class was easy. Getting her home would be a different story.

"What's going on?" Neema asked as we left the elementary school.

I scanned for Botan but there was no sign on her. I picked up my sister ant started running towards our apartment. "It's sort of complicated," I replied, "It's just not safe to be out in public right now."

"Why?"

"There's just a lot of stuff going on. I'd rather know you're safe at home than to worry about you," I tried as we rounded a corner.

"Where's da—ahh!" She screamed as an infected person jumped out from behind a dumpster at us. He howled and lunged rather robotically. I tightened one arm around my sister's waist and used the other to balance as I kicked him in the stomach. He flew back into the dumpster and I ran the other way.

"What's going on?!" Neema cried out scared.

"To put it simply, zombies."

"Zombies?!"

"Yes."

"Is daddy a zombie too?"

"Yes."

Tears broke through Neema's eyes as we got inside the apartment building. I set her up on the couch with snacks and the remote. "Neema."

She looked up at me in despair. The thing I loved about her the most I also hated, her ability to feel emotions as deeply as she did made things hard sometimes. I knelt down next to her, "Everything is going to be alright. I promise."

"How do you know?"

"Because Batman is working on it."

"I knew it! You _do_ know Batman!"

"Yes, I do. But he can't help if you don't follow his rules."

"What are his rules?"

"One, you have to stay in the apartment. Two, don't open any doors or windows. Period. Three, ignore dad. He's harmless at the moment. If for some reason he gets loose, go out your bedroom window and down the fire escape. Then run."

"Ok."

"You got it all?"

"Yep! Don't go anywhere. Don't open anything. Escape plan if dad gets out."

I laughed a little, "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Where are you going?"

"To kick zombie ass, duh."

"Okay!" I watched my sister become absorbed into her television shows before I left. These quick, childish plans I came up with weren't going to work on her much longer. She's just about at that age where asking the "who's," "what's," and "where's" aren't enough. I locked the door and pulled out the mirror Botan had given me that morning. I opened the mirror and studied it; the inside was just as purple as the outside. The top half was a screen and the bottom half had three little red buttons to one side and a small speaker. I hit the first little red button and it starting ringing and the screen turned on.

"What now?!" Yusuke shouted as his face appeared on the little screen.

"Yusuke?" I yelled back in surprise. He was staring at me through the screen just as I had communicated with Botan earlier.

"Oh, hi Rhea!" He sounded more pleasant knowing I wasn't the grim reaper. "How're you calling me?"

"Moron," I groaned, "I can't believe the fate of our city is in your hands. Botan gave me one of these too."

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted in defense, "The Brainiac is over here," he handed his communication device over to Kurama.

Kurama looked curiously through the screen, "Yes, what is it?"

"Nothing, he's just being retarded. I called his mirror on accident. Doesn't really come with instructions, you know?"

"Oh," he replied lightly, "Well we're currently fighting the second beast now."

"Are you fucking serious? My dad's a fucking zombie and I just pulled my sister out of school so she wouldn't get infected too!" Kurama's face changed to one of more urgency. I noticed a rip in his jacket and realized he was holding himself together. "Is that a chest wound?"

"Abdomen," he corrected.

"You have a death wish, don't you?" I deadpanned.

A light chuckle was his response, "We're fighting as fast as we can."

I sighed, "Alright," and closed the mirror. _How the hell am I supposed to know which of these calls Botan?_ I opened the mirror again and tried the second button this time. Botan answered shortly after that.

"Oh, Rhea!" she shouted.

"Where are you?"

"Between Eighth and Ninth Street."

"I'll be there in a few."

"Oh, Rhea?"

"What?"

"You should bring more bug spray."

"Why can't you just swat them?"

"Eww!"

I rolled my eyes and headed towards Eighth Street. When I stepped out onto the street I was greeted by two zombies. One had a machete. _I really hope he doesn't realize that's a weapon…_ They seemed to have sensed me because they turned on me rather quickly. _Well… Fuck._ I kicked the first guy into the stairwell and had to jump out of the way of the machete. I threw my shoulder out to break my fall as I hit the ground in the street and used the curb to kick off of to help myself back up. I sprinted down the street avoiding cars. This confused the zombie and traffic came to a halt. I turned around and jumped up on a car and started back towards the zombie via car roofs until I landed my heel in the zombie's back as he tried to destroy someone's engine. The zombie dropped the machete and knocked his head against the hood. He was out. I picked up the machete and took off into an alleyway.

"Rhea!" Botan cheered coming up to meet me.

"Hey."

"That was Marvelous!"

"That's not really the word I'd use, but thank you. I think we should get out of here though."

Botan nodded, "M-hm!" We dipped in and out of allies until we were about five blocks away from the scene I had just caused. We posted up against a building and Botan pulled out her mirror while I surveyed the area.

"Yusuke, this is Botan. Do you copy?" she greeted the mirror.

"Sure," Yusuke replied grumpily.

"Hey!" An unfamiliar, dark, and raspy voice cheered from somewhere on Yusuke's side of the mirror. "Tell her I say hi!"

"How are things in Maze Castle? Please tell me you've defeated three out of the Four Saint Beasts by now," Botan ignored the man.

"What?! Are you crazy, Botan?" Yusuke whined. "We've barely beaten two. These guys aren't easy!"

"I understand, Yusuke, but that's not fast enough. The city is losing its grip. The mayor declared a riot alert, thinking these people are just insane. So far the police have detained most of those taken over by the Makai, but it won't be long until the police turn infected as well," she informed both Yusuke and me at the same time. I felt something in my mind tingle as I scanned the area again. I could sense two zombies behind us and one in front.

I turned and peered down the alleyway. "Looks like it's already got the police," I mused to myself, "Boy, I've always wanted to uppercut a cop!" I took off towards them and kicked one of them in the stomach. The other tried to grapple me and I tossed him over my head. The first got back up and charged with a baton. I ducked, missing his swing, and launched up into an uppercut with a grin. It felt like pure justice. The police zombie fell back and passed out. The second came back and grabbed my arm. I watched his hand reach for his gun and my sight went black.

I blinked the darkness away and the police zombie was face down on the ground with a missing hand. "Uh, Botan?" I managed as I realized what had happened.

She came over and turned the police zombie over. His hand wasn't the only thing that eroded away. "Oh, no," she gasped and stood up, "I thought I told you not to use your powers on the infected!" she cried.

"Yeah? I thought I told you I can't _use_ my powers at will!"

"Then how are you eroding the bugs?!" She yelled back in a panic.

"I'm still trying to figure that one out!" I raised my voice as well. I stood back and took a deep breath, "Look, I saw him go for his gun and the next thing I knew he was like this." Botan sighed and called in to report the three zombies, the third being a civilian who approached from that opposite direction that Botan took care of. When she was done, she knelt down and started healing the gaping wound in the police zombie's side. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cauterizing the wound so he won't bleed out," Botan replied in a strained manner.

"That's the same type of energy you used to keep the eye from opening on Yusuke's girlfriend. I don't understand," I cut myself off trying to make sense of it in my head.

"It's called life energy," Botan squeezed through her discomfort. "It can be manipulated to do quite a bit… with the proper training." She ceased the transfer of power and slowly rose.

"Life energy? Why would Kurama not tell me about that?" I asked while starring down at the police man I had just scarred for life. I didn't feel any real guilt except for the fact that he was going to wake up uninfected today or tomorrow and never know how his hand went missing.

"Mm, probably because he doesn't want you to know about it," Botan replied pensively. "Learning how to use life energy is much more dangerous than learning how to use spirit or demon energy. The slightest mistake and you could die."

"Teach me."

"Not right now!"

"Of course not!" I paused, "And please."

"I'll think about it, but right now we should get out of here."

I nodded and looked back down at the police man's hand then proceeded to run away before the authorities showed up. We decided to go back to my apartment and grab some late lunch. My sister was right where I left her, only she had fallen asleep after eating too many snacks. She woke up right as we finished eating.

"Rhea!" she exclaimed.

"Good afternoon, sleepy head," I forced a smile.

"Did you beat up all the zombies yet?"

Botan and I tried not to chuckle at her sleepy excitement. "Not all of them, we got hungry."

"I don't think I'd be able to eat after killing zombies," she stated.

I laughed again, "Well it's a good thing you're not out there with us then."

"I want to! Can I?"

"No."

"Aaawww!"

"Neema," I warned.

"Okay," she pouted and switched the television from the news back to her cartoons.

Botan and I cleaned up after lunch and hit the streets again. The rest of the day was rather uneventful considering; we must have killed at least a hundred bugs and I lost count at eighteen for the zombies. We got back in near ten in the evening and practically collapsed on the floor. Chasing zombies and bugs is a lot more work than it sounds. I checked in on my father, who started trying to thrash around when I opened the door so I assumed he was as good as he was going to get. We went to sleep without much chit chat.

The next morning we awoke to the sound of an explosion. I ran to the sliding glass door in the living room and threw it open. Botan came up behind me to observe the high rise building a block down the street catch on fire. Neema at some point wiggled in between us and pressed herself against the balcony to get a better look. After a few moments I pulled her back inside and got ready for another long day of exterminating. Whoo.

By midafternoon the traffic on the roads and sidewalks was impossible to get through. Pretty much everything was starting to come to a complete halt. Botan and I agreed to weave in and out of the allies. We were nearing the end of an alleyway when a man collapsed next to the bustling square. Botan and I looked at each other in understanding and started creeping up to him. He growled and stood back up and walked out into the sidewalk. Botan sprinted after him and knocked him out with a metal bat. Then she gasped.

"What happened?" I asked while looking over the knocked out zombie.

"I forgot to report back to Koenma!" she announced and ran back into the alley.

"That guy?" I spat out like it was a nasty taste on my tongue. I still hadn't forgiven him for convicting me of a crime everyone knew I didn't do and then punishing me by forcing me into the Spirit Detective role as a human shield so Kurama could do his dirty work, which in return, meant I was doing the prince's dirty work too. Total Bullshit, by the way. "Hey," I followed Botan back into the alley.

"I'm afraid the news isn't good. The Makai insects are moving too fast for us to battle everyone who's been taken over," she was informing the mirror. I peered over her shoulder and realized I was being stared at by a toddler with "Jr." written on his forehead. _Wait, who the fuck is this toddler? What the fuck does "junior" mean?! Oh… You can't be serious…_ "All I can do now is contain them into one part of the city."

"Then the toddler spoke, "Very well. We'll just have to hope Yusuke destroys the whistle before the city bursts into flames." I snickered the irony of that statement and he eyed me, "But that's no guarantee, so keep exterminating where you can."

"I understand. Over and out," Botan closed the mirror and gawked at me.

"Koenma… is a toddler? Your _boss_ is a toddler?" I asked trying to not sound like I had just been bitch slapped by fate.

"He is _not_ a toddler," Botan defended.

"We're screwed," I started laughing.

"Come on," Botan groaned, "They're becoming more violent." I nodded and we went back to business. Within an hour we were no longer the hunters. A gang of zombies latched onto us and started to charge. There were about six or seven of them. They threw rocks and knives as we ran away. Eventually we ran into a dead end. _A chain-link fence and zombies… this day couldn't get any better, could it?_

"Botan, climb the fence, I'll take care of these guys," I offered.

"But—," she started.

"GO!"

* * *

**Hiropon**: Essentially the Japanese Trademark for meth when they used it for military/medical purposes before they knew better. Using it in this chapter as a really nasty joke :P

* * *

**MWAHAHAHAHA That burns, doesn't it?**

**I told you this shit would be coming out my ass for a while now that I got over that stupid writing hump.**

**Thank you so much for your always wonderful reviews coolstorybro7, Kairo Minamino, mrsbeggins, and Just 2 Dream of You.**

* * *

**AND YES, IT STILL APPLIES:**

**FOR EVERY REVIEW, IT'S ONE LESS CIGARETTE I SMOKE!**

**HELP ME QUIT!**

**It's been working! Not to mention my roommate turned my arm black and blue because I told her I wanted to associate the physical addiction with physical pain, and smoked 2…or 3 cigarettes (which is a lot less than I normally smoke while drinking) XD Basically what I do is I keep all the emails sends me notifying me of a review and I leave it in my mail box. Then when I've ignored a cigarette craving for over an hour (coming from someone who smokes ½ to a full pack a day an hour is about how often I smoke a cig) then I delete the message from my inbox. So for example with last chapter; I bought a pack of cigarettes right before I posted it. So I got 16 reviews since the last chapter posted and I have 6 reviews still in my mailbox. That means I've resisted the urge to smoke a cigarette 10 times :D Of course, I'm not quitting completely cold turkey, I don't have time to be bedridden with withdrawal symptoms for half a week and I already have anger management issues… Definitely threw someone into a wall the last time I tried to quit soooo…. Yeah…. But anyways!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**AND FAVORITE AND FOLLOW!**


	8. Total Desperation Part 8

_I walked into the café and looked around. I found them in our usual corner booth and walked over. Hayate watched me carefully as I slid into the booth next to him. Hayate was a student, a year older than me. He was in his first year of high school now, I met him the year before in an after school program for gifted musicians. He played the guitar and I, the piano. Asami and Takeshi sat in the booth across from our table. Takeshi was my best friend; I met him in class two years ago when my father first moved us back to the city. We had been thick as thieves. Asami was his girlfriend who he introduced me to and we instantly became close. She was honestly the best friend out of all three of them. I could tell her anything. The fact that none of them smiled or greeted me was very off putting. It felt like an intervention. I was aware that I had been neglecting them and acting strange with no explanation._

_ Asami wasn't one for small talk, she laid her cards on the table rather quickly, "Rhea, I don't know—we don't know what has been going on but you're starting to scare us."_

_ I sighed and leaned back against the seat. I kept my head directed towards Asami, trying to watch Takeshi and Hayate's movements but I couldn't bring myself to actually look at them. I knew that Takeshi would start swinging fists at a tank if he knew about Tatsuhiro and the mafia. And Hayate… I didn't even want to think about what his reaction would be. He was always the level headed peace keeper of the group. Of course my little secret made things much worse. I had to focus all my energy on not giving away the fact that I was terrified. How could I tell the one person I liked, I mean _really_ liked, that I was in the mafia and killed nightly and sold drugs? "I'm sorry," I struggled to reply and keep myself together. My friends. My best friends. My only friends. I couldn't tell them that I was becoming this monster. "It's just… my dad's really sick. I'm having a lot of trouble keeping our household together."_

_ "That's bullshit," Asami spat back angrily. "I can tell that you're lying. We are your best friends, we _know_ you. You haven't been yourself for months now."_

_ Takeshi placed his hand on Asami's and took the floor, "What Asami is trying to say is that whatever it is you're going through, you're lying about it. Why can't you just tell us the truth? We aren't going to be in middle school forever. Next year we are going to high school, you know how important high school is, don't you?"_

_ "Yes," I breathed._

_ "Then tell us what's going on," Asami broke in. I looked back at her and bit my lip. I froze. _I can't… _I could feel my chest tighten and emotions I'd been suppressing since I met Tatsuhiro started to bubble up inside of me. _I just… can't… If I told you, it'd be harder to protect you from _him._

_ I saw Hayate look at me. I could tell even out of the corner of my eyes that he was reading every emotion that was running through my head. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulder and pull me closer to him. When my body pressed against his I found it even harder to keep myself together. I was completely silent, focusing everything I had not to break down in the café. _I can't… _I bit down on my tongue when I felt the beginning of tears forming. I looked out over the table to Asami and Takeshi._

_ "Rhea, we can't keep doing this. I stay up a lot worrying about you when I need to be worrying about myself. I'm sorry," her face was cold as stone._

_ "I…" I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, trying to block out the tears, "I… can't…" There was a long silence before I opened my eyes and watched as Asami and Takeshi slide out of the booth._

_ "I guess… this is goodbye then," Asami replied coldly before they turned and left the café. I stared after them long after they were gone then turned to Hayate. I glanced up at him, our eyes met for a second before I cast mine down towards the table it complete shame. We sat in silence for a minute._

_ "I have to go to my guitar lesson,"Hayate broke the silence after a while._

_ "I know," I breathed and slowly stood up so he was no longer trapped in the booth. He gave me a weak smile before exiting in the same manner as Asami and Takeshi. I watched after him even longer before collapsing back into the booth and burying my head in my arms and silently letting out the emotions I fought so hard to keep down moments before._

* * *

"Botan, climb the fence, I'll take care of these guys," I offered.

"But—," she started.

"GO!"

She started climbing the fence as I kicked the closest zombie. He stumbled back and I punched another one, I kept beating at them but they wouldn't stay down. One of them latched onto my arm and started twisting it—then stopped. They all stopped for a second then turned around and started walking away. "Hey!" I shouted at them, "I thought we were having fun! What the hell happened?!" They no longer acknowledged me, "What the hell?" I ran to catch up with them and noticed that _all_ of the zombies were moving in the same direction. "This can't be good…" I started running through them to figure out where they were headed. After a few minutes of trying to get to the front of the zombie mob, I noticed that they were trying to say something.

"Y-Yuki… mura…"

""Yukimura?" I pulled out the mirror and called Botan.

"Rhea! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, the zombies are chanting," I relayed as I stepped out of the crowd.

"What?" Botan asked confused.

"Who's Yukimura?"

Botan gasped, "I thought so. They're after Keiko, Yusuke's girlfriend!"

"That poor girl," I remembered her from when Hiei tried to turn her into a demon slave.

"They're headed to Sarayashiki Junior High. We have to find her before they do. She doesn't know anything about the supernatural," Botan informed me.

"Got it," I snapped the mirror shut and took a short cut through the alley ways to the junior high school. The school grounds were littered with the infested humans. One noticed me and attacked. I knocked him out and ran for the door to the building. They slumped towards the door and I found a broom that I wedged between the handles in hopes that it would slow them down. I ran through the school yelling Keiko's name but there was no reply. I opened a side door.

"But why don't we work out those details after we escape from the hundreds of infested humans who want to kill you," I heard Botan say.

"Botan!" I called to her and she took Keiko's hand and ran inside the door. I closed the door and locked it then followed them to a payphone.

"The phone line's been cut," Keiko stated after trying it a few times.

"I'm afraid they're getting a lot smarter," Botan deducted.

"Maybe there's someone in the teacher's lounge," Keiko offered.

Botan gasped, "I've always loved the way you think," she complimented.

We ran to the teacher's lounge on the third floor. Keiko slid open the door, "Excuse me," she greeted then gasped, "Mr. Takanaka!" She and Botan ran over to him. I stepped into the room and looked around.

"Mr. Takanaka, I need your help! There's hundreds of people outside and they're trying to—" she tapped his shoulder and he collapsed onto the desk. Keiko gasped.

Botan leaned forward to check on him, "He's out," she answered redundantly.

I inched towards them as Keiko started shaking him, "Mr. Takanaka, please wake up!"

I felt a cold chill and turned to see an infected man behind us. "Yukimuuraaa!" he shouted and lunged at us. Keiko screamed and I took an empty chair next to me and smashed it over the zombie's head. He fumbled to the ground and I took Keiko's hand and started running.

I stopped where two hallways met. They were all clear, "Botan," I addressed and released Keiko's hand.

"What is it?" Botan replied.

"Stay with Keiko. I'm going to seal off this floor so more can't get up here," I offered a quick plan. "Hopefully by then I can find a way to get us out of here."

Botan nodded and I took off down one of the halls. The first staircase I came to was easy enough to block off. I jammed desks against it and to the other wall making basically… a wall of desks. The second staircase was a little more difficult. It was at the corner of a hallway and the only thing around were lockers. I found an end to a group of five and pushed the set on its side and slid it up against the door. "Damn, what the fuck is in here?" I mused to myself, "This has to weigh at least two hundred pounds." _Two hundred probably isn't enough…_ I did the same thing to another set of lockers and pushed it up against the first. "That'll have to do for now," I told myself and moved on.

The third staircase was open and a few zombies were coming up the stairs. I quickly slammed the door shut and threw my weight against it while looking for something to block it. There wasn't anything around… except for the zombies who had already started down the hall. They had turned around and began charging me as the zombies in the stairwell started pounding on the door. _Shit!_ I picked up a broom that was resting next to the door and started swinging at the zombies in front of me. I aimed for their necks knowing I didn't have time to gracefully put them to rest. There were four of them and when I had knocked them all out I slid down to the floor and pulled one over to me.

The door budged and I slammed the body up against the door and sat on it. The zombies pushed against the door again and a hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I slammed my back against the door and the zombie cried out and retracted its hand. I quickly grabbed the second unconscious zombie and piled it on top of the first. The door moved a little less and I had enough time to pile on the third before having to push the entire pile back against the door because the zombies were banging so hard the pile was being slid across the floor. Then the budging ceased a little more and I piled on the fourth infected human I had knocked out. "Fuck, now what?" I looked around but there was nothing at my disposal. "I could kill them…" I joked, "Then they can't wake up." I opened a door to a class room and looked around; there were cabinets in the back corner and I found rope inside of them. "Or I could tie them up with this suspicious rope that I conveniently found," I thought aloud. I did so as one of the zombies started to wake. I punched him in the temple and he was out cold again and finished the job.

I scanned the rest of the third floor for exits. I found Botan and Keiko instead. They had just finished beating up a group of infested humans with a fire extinguisher and the zombie from the teacher's lounge had Botan by the shoulders. I watched as Keiko slapped the guy so hard he went unconscious.

"A steller hit, Keiko!" Botan cheered, "You should fight on the boxing team!"

"I just… hit a teacher," Keiko replied in a surprised and dazed tone.

"Come on," Botan laughed as they met me at the end of the hall. "Rhea!" she greeted cheerfully.

"I sealed off three staircases," I directed towards Keiko, "Are there any more?"

"Yes," Keiko replied," It's next to the elevator. You go down this hall and take a right, then another right."

"Got it," I nodded and started off. I got to the elevator and opened it. I pulled the emergency switch which made the elevator inaccessible. I was able to find more lockers to knock down and block the staircase with, and then I went to go find Botan and Keiko again. I stumbled upon a group of zombies banging on a door. _Well… found them…_ They hadn't noticed me yet so I snuck into a room with an open door and found a cheap podium that consisted of a metal rod and a slab of wood. I took it and went back to the crowd of zombies. They broke through the door and I swung the podium as hard as I could. I hit two zombies, knocking one out and distracting the other. Two more turned towards me as five entered the room. I swung again and knocked the closest one back crashing into another one and to the floor. I drove my foot into the chest of the third and sent it back as well. I had knocked a second one out but the other two got back up and advanced again. I swung the podium at their heads and they keeled over. I heard the zombies smashing something and ran to the doorway in time to watch Keiko and Botan jump out from behind the curtain and beat the zombies with mops. They ran towards the door and I followed them down the hallway.

"We've got to get to an exit," Botan shouted back to me.

"Take a right up there!" I shouted up to her as the zombies behind us started getting closer.

"You can't run forever Yukimura," the zombie with scissors growled.

Botan rounded a corner and a zombie smacked her in the head with a metal pipe and knocked her out. Keiko caught her fall, "Oh, Botan! Botan!" More zombies blocked our path with weapons in hand.

"Run… away," Botan tried to regain consciousness.

"I can't leave you," Keiko protested as we became surrounded.

The zombie with the scissors laughed and stepped forward, "The community comes together when it's important, see? And correcting bad girls is very important!" he laughed some more.

"Stop talking!" I hissed at him, "You sound like a retard."

He howled and advanced, smashing Botan's communication mirror that had fallen out of her pocket when she got hit. I blocked his arm that had the scissors in them but he returned with his other arm and smacked me into the wall. Some of the infected people closed in around me and started swinging.

I heard Keiko scream.

* * *

I felt a cool rush of energy surged the room. It was Yusuke's, I was sure of it.

Then the zombies dropped to the floor unconscious. Keiko and I looked from the zombies to each other and back. I busted out laughing, "It's about fucking time, Yusuke!"

"What happened?" Keiko asked in shock.

"Yusuke has been trying to stop this madness for a few days now. I guess he finally did it," I answered vaguely and went over and picked up the unconscious Botan. I struggled to get her on my back, "Damn, for a dead bitch, she weighs a lot… Come on; let's get out of here before a normal person comes along."

Keiko nodded in agreement and we made our way to the elevator. We got to the entrance of the school yard just as Kurama and Hiei appeared down the street carrying Yusuke and some other guy.

"Yusuke!" Keiko shouted and ran up to them. I walked behind her and watched as the man with orange hair hopped off of Kurama's back. We agreed to take Yusuke and Botan to the carrot top's house. Kurama introduced me to Kuwabara and then I went home with an awkward and quick good-bye.

(Imagine a line across the page here. FF is being a butt)

I entered the apartment to a sleeping little sister and banging from my father's room. He was back to normal and pissed. I un-gagged him, "What the hell is going on?!" he shouted at me.

I laughed nervously, "It's sort of hard to explain."

"You better untie me right now, young lady!" he hissed.

I backed away awkwardly, "Hold on, let me go get a knife… or something." I closed the door and called Kurama's house.

"Minamino residence," his mother picked up.

"Hi, Mrs. Minamino. It's Rhea," I greeted.

"Oh, Rhea!" she exclaimed, "I'm so worried; I haven't heard or seen Shuichi in days! Do you know what happened to him?"

I sweatdropped, "No, I was just calling to check up on him, actually."

"Oh, hold on," she said something I couldn't make out, "He just walked in."

There was fumbling of the phone, "Hello," Kurama greeted.

"Hey, it's Rhea," I replied.

"Please tell me you need my help," he whispered.

"Actually, I do. My father's very angry right now. He wants to know why he's been bound and gagged. I don't know what to do."

"I'll be right there," he hung up. I quietly cleaned up my sister's mess and went to the bathroom. I turned the water on hot and stripped out of my dirt and blood covered shorts and t-shirt. I got in the shower and let the water drench my hair that stuck to my back from sweat. I found it odd that even though I just got done fighting a zombie apocalypse, the thing that scared me away was the shear amount of people who actually wanted to talk to me afterwards. Keiko bombarded me with questions about what had happened and how I knew Yusuke and Botan. Kuwabara also wanted to know more about me and how I knew Yusuke and Kurama. Hiei vanished after handing the deadbeat Yusuke over to Kurama. And Kurama wanted to know what had happened and if I was alright. While they were interrogating me though, the only thing that really crossed my mind was the fact that I hadn't been around people my own age who wanted anything to do with me for a while. I couldn't stop thinking about _them._

Then it hit me; I hadn't thought about them for a while now. I was so focused on the mafia and then Kurama came along and flipped my entire world upside down and started focusing on all this supernatural bullshit that I had forgotten about how much I missed my friends.

I shook off my train of thought and got out of the shower and put on a new pair of shorts and a tank top. The air conditioner had been damaged the day before by a zombie so it was hot as balls in the apartment. There was a gentle knock on the door and I opened it to find Kurama, "That was quick."

"I forgot to come up with an excuse for my absence," he explained.

I laughed, "I'm sort of in the same boat."

"We could erase their memories," Kurama offered.

"I vote for that one," I mused, "I'm too tired to think of any good excuses."

"Likewise," Kurama nodded and pulled out a small case and opened it.

"What is that?"

"It contains dry ingredients to my more common remedies," he explained as he placed it down on the counter for me to see.

I peered into it to see sections separating each type of plant, "Erm… That's all you need?"

He chuckled, "No, I'll also need a bowl, water, triclosan."

"Are you serious?" I gawked at him, "How the hell are we supposed to get triclosan?"

Kurama picked up the hand soap next to the sink and read the back of it, "Well, this has triclosan in it."

"What the fuck? I thought we were erasing their memories, not killing them with soap!"

He obviously tried but failed to hold down his laughter, "It's a very small dosage, it won't hurt them."

I looked wide eyed from him to his box then wearily got a bowl down from the cabinets for him. He poured two drops of the soap into the bowl and then started adding his dry ingredients. "How much water do you need?"

"A glass full," he answered without breaking his concentration. I poured a glass of water and set it in front of him and watched. When he finished mixing the ingredients he poured half into the glass of water and it dissolved into clear liquid. "Have your father drink this glass when you untie him, it will knock him out for the night and tomorrow he will wake up as if nothing happened."

I took the glass from him and looked at it, "Is this what you did to him half a year ago?"

"Not quite, that was a much stronger concoction," he answered with a small grin.

I looked at him for a moment then went to untie my father. He sat up and I handed him the glass, "Here."

He took it and chugged it down, "Thank you," and sat the empty glass on his night stand. "Now do you want to tell me what the hell happened?"

"No… not really, I'm kind of tired," I replied apathetically.

He gave me a stern look but his muscles started to loosen, "We'll talk about this in the morning before you go to school." He slowly lied back down.

I looked around for a second, "… okay…" and walked back out of the room, shutting the door behind me. I came back out into the kitchen where Kurama was closing a small vile he had just poured the other half of the remedy into, "Well that was surprisingly painless."

Kurama stuck the vile into his coat pocket, "Good." He started walking towards the door but turned around and stopped barely inches in front of me, "Can I ask you something?"

I looked up at him a little worried from his indecisive movements, "Uh… yeah?"

"Why were you so cautious and eager to get home earlier when we were at Kuwabara's place?" He looked down at me with the intent to keep our eyes locked so he could study them just in case I tried to hide the truth.

I sighed and broke eye contact, "social anxiety," I tried but I already knew he wouldn't accept that answer. I turned and walked to the porch and slid open the door. He followed me out into the night breeze and watched carefully as I rested my arms on the railing.

His aura alone was telling me that he wasn't done prying but I tried to ignore it as I looked out over the sea of lights. "Rhea," He started.

"All that attention reminded me of old friends," I finally answered. "Friends I don't have anymore."

I heard Kurama shift from behind me and his hand rest on my shoulder. I looked down at it curiously before he turned me to look at him and his other hand came to rest on my other shoulder. "I understand what it's like to miss your friends, Rhea, but there's no point in troubling yourself with the past… I know better than most." He broke off calculating something in his head. He relaxed his grip and his hands slid down my arms an inch or so. I felt trapped in his gaze as his words weaved around in my brain.

"I know," I breathed, "I just miss having friends." I felt those horrible emotions and memories start to stir up inside of me again.

"You do have a friend," he pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around my back. I could feel my chest tighten and my eyes start to burn as I took in a deep breath. At the same time, the embrace cloaked me making me feel warm and protected; making it easier for the tears to find their way to the corners of my eyes. The words danced and echoed through my brain as I recalled our first conversation about friends and what they mean to us. Kurama wasn't the type of person to use a word that held a certain connotation without meaning it.

_"If I'm going to like someone enough to call them a 'friend' they best damned be supportive and there for me, no matter what…"_

I rested my chin against his shoulder exhausted from all the bug zapping, ass kicking, drama, and emotions. Kurama's grip on me only tightened with no sign of letting go. He knew I was fighting back the emotions and knew that if he held me long enough I wouldn't be able to contain them. I accepted this and wrapped my arm around his neck and buried my face between his chest and my arm to muffle any sobs that escaped. A part of me wanted to believe I could call him a friend but another part wanted me to stay weary of him to protect myself for when he decides he is bored with me and takes off never to be heard from again.

I felt Kurama's body freeze up for a second and I was about to break our embrace when I felt his hand reach up to the base of my neck, my hair tangling between his fingers. The sudden change in his posture startled me but we were already so entwined I really couldn't do anything about it. Even though Kurama's extensive training has brought my physical strength much closer to his, he could still easily overpower me with one hand. I would have to catch him off guard to overthrow him, and we all know how easy that is… not.

"K-Kurama?" I breathed trying to look at him to judge his expression. I couldn't though, he held me too closely and so tightly I could barely shift my weight.

He nuzzled close to my ear; "Go inside," he breathed in a death threatening tone before he slowly released me. I looked up at his stony expression and did what I was told. To put it simply, he looked terrifying. I left the sliding glass door open and stepped off to the side and watched. Kurama stood out on the porch for a few moments like a statue. I tried to focus on finding some sort of energy that may have caused his sudden change in mood. Sure enough, I picked up a faint energy from a building a few blocks away. It also stood motionless staring back at Kurama.

I started to feel dizzy and came back to my immediate surroundings. My mind shot back to Kurama reaching for the back of my neck and my hand went silently to the place where he had taken hold. I couldn't feel anything in my hair or on my scalp but I was sure something had happened to cause my disorientation. Then I remembered what he had whispered to me. His voice had sent shivers down my spine. I felt weak and leaned up against the wall.

Kurama came inside and shut the door behind him. He still held his stony stance as he studied me and I looked back at him worried. "Wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?"

He stood there silent for a moment then held up something between his thumb and his finger, "This is a device that was just implanted in the back of your neck. It is a demon world invention that allows whoever plants it to know of your whereabouts and measures power. The only safe way to take it out is with a corresponding machine that it sends its information to."

"So then why the hell did you take it out?!" I growled. I felt another wave of dizziness take over and braced myself against the wall to remain standing.

"To use the scent on it to track down whoever planted it," he replied simply. I glared at him and he continued, "If it's removed improperly it releases venom into your blood."

"Great," I grumbled and leaned against the entertainment system. I was starting to feel nauseous from fighting the venom. "How long does this bullshit last?"

"About thirty minutes before it becomes fatal."

I shot my gaze back to him, "You're not making me feel any better about this. How do we stop it?"

"There's a plant in demon world that is used to counteract the venom, however, I don't have any myself."

"More useless information," I hissed as I tried to straighten back up. My vision was starting to go in and out of focus.

"There is another way, one I'm not too fond of."

"Spit it out already!"

Kurama leapt forward to catch my fall as my knees buckled in. I grabbed onto his arms for support and looked up at him trying to fight down what I knew what an expression of fright. He sighed, "The creators of this device knew that it would be brought into the human world for entertainment, and the creators were very… disturbed."

"What is it?" I growled and lowered my eyes to his chest as my vision started to spin a little.

"We need to inject demon energy into your blood near where the device was planted."

"How do you do that?"

"Considering our resources and time; the old fashioned way," I glanced back up at him with a death glare and he gave me a small yet eerie grin. "Biting."

My eyes grew wide, "I'm sure that would work if you had fangs but I'm pretty sure your K-9's aren't that sharp."

"Who said anything about me? I figured Hiei's teeth were much sharper," He smiled innocently.

"Oh _hell_ no!"

Kurama laughed, "I thought so."

I tightened my grip on his arms as I started to lose my vision altogether, "Just do it already god dammit."

Kurama released his grip on me and scooped me up and laid me down on my bed. I kept my eyes open but I couldn't see a single thing. I felt his hand gently brush my hair away from the left side of my neck and shoulder. My skin tingled where his hand brushed against it. It felt like everything was happening so slowly, must have been because of the venom. I felt the bed shift where he pressed down with his knees and hands.

"You're enjoying this aren't you, you sick bastard?"

I could feel him smiling, "Actually I find it rather disgusting in most cases."

"_Most?_"

"Most of the time it's not a beautiful woman."

I adjusted myself a little trying to ignore his perverted reply, "Get on with your vampire deed already, I'm starting to lose consciousness."

I felt his hand wrap around the back of my head and hold my hair out of the way and his hair brush against my face. I look in a slow deep breathe trying to keep myself calm. Suddenly I felt his teeth sink into my trapezius muscle between my neck and shoulder. I took in a sharp breath from the pain and froze not sure what to do.

His jaw clamped down even harder and pain went searing though my body. I bit down on my lip to keep from gasping or making any noise as to not disturb my sleeping family. I could tell that he still hadn't broken the skin and it had to have been at least a few seconds by that point, although it felt much longer. He bit down even harder and I could hear the skin tearing from his teeth. The pain was worse than I had imagined and I gave into it. My back arched trying to distance Kurama's body from mine, and my hands flew to the back of Kurama's shoulders ready to yank him away. I gasped out and squeezed my eyes shut.

Even if I screamed and cried I knew he wouldn't stop at this point. His other arm wrapped around the small of my back and his hand around my head tightened to hold me in place. His movements sent more chills down my spine and my immobility only amplified the feelings. At this point the pain started to subside and the confines of my body started to vanish. I felt something jump in my chest and let out a small plea, "Kurama."

He finally released his jaw and laid me back down flat on the bed. A bead of blood hit my bottom lip and I knew he was still hovering over me observing the act he had just done. "Sorry," he whispered and brushed his thumb gently over my lip removing the droplet. Another wave of shivers shot through my body and I slowly opened my eyes. My sight was still blurry but it was obviously Kurama staring down at me.

He gently got up from the bed and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I managed to mutter as I looked over at his figure in the doorway.

"To track down whoever did this," he replied as coldly as ever.

"Wait," I tried to sit up but the pressure on the bite sent me back to the bed.

"I'll come back, don't worry."

I watched as his figure vanished from the doorway before I let myself slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Before you say anything: What you just read does NOT in fact have anything to do with "marking" people, binding them together forevaz, as used to be popular in this fandom. Although I admit the idea did spawn from what I vaguely remember of that noise. Think of it more of a temporary vampire turning bite... only Rhea isn't becoming a vampire... or acquiring his powers... or anything. What is simply happening is this: Kurama just uses the contact of fluids to transfer his demonic energy into her bloodstream to fight off the venom. Which could have easily been done through mouth to mouth or whatever, but straight to the blood closest to the back of the neck without accidentally breaking something important like a bone or artery and such. ...Just wait for the next chapter XD**

**Well that was fun, right? XD I figured since I'm such a looser and can't seem to post efficiently that I'd give you a little treat at the end of this chapter :3 I hope you liked my little vampire twist there XP**

**It's times like these I wonder if I should do a chapter from Kurama's POV just to make the story more... well rounded XD Idk whatchu guys think?**

**Anyways, REVIEW, FAVORITE, AND FOLLOW! Much love!**


	9. Total Desperation Part 9

_ I stood silently pressing my back against the cement wall mentally preparing myself. Tatsuhiro had ordered me to infiltrate another mafia's building; a surprisingly unexpected rescue mission. I had no idea why he thought I'd be the best for a job that was so important and delicate. Women trafficking. He had told me they snatched her up off the streets of a shopping plaza earlier that day. Women trafficking. Mr. Daichi had told me a few ghost stories about the subject but I had never encountered it in person… well at least until what I was about to encounter._

_ I took a deep breath and clicked the safety off on the pistol and cocked it. I have to admit I was a little shaken. This was obviously a test; sending a little girl on a rescue mission and foil a women trafficking operation. I skidded down the hill and ducked behind a dumpster. I watched as two men entered the building and the door closed behind them. I turned the other way and studied the windows and doors. The back door swung open and an intoxicated man came stumbling out cursing under his breath. He spotted me and reached for his gun but dropped it. "Shit," I heard him say as I ran up and slammed the grip down on the back of his neck. He grunted and fell to the ground. I picked up his gun and tucked my own away and proceeded into the building holding the gun out in front of me ready to shoot._

_ It was a brightly lit hallway with a cement floor and white walls. Doors littered the walls to the other end of the building. One door opened and a guy zipping up his pants stepped out, completely oblivious to the fact that I was right behind him. I snuck over and kicked the back of his knee and it gave in sending him down to my height. I took his head between my hands and snapped his neck and the rest of him fell to the floor. I peered inside the room and saw a girl, maybe a few years older than me, strapped to the bed post. She was silently crying. Her skin looked oily and grey, sunken in like a Holocaust victim. I shut the door behind me and slowly approached._

_ "…please…" she whispered through sobs, "…please…"I didn't respond, I stood there studying her. Her arms were bruised and marked up from syringes. _It's just how Mr. Daichi described…_ I heard someone say something in the hallway and snapped out of my catalepsy and headed back to the door. Two men were marching down the hall to a third who stood in a doorway. I could hear them shouting commands about something going wrong, going on lock down, and loading up. They were starting their hunt for me._

_ I stepped out into the hallway, "There's no need for such a racket. I'm right here." The two men turned to face me, they had seen me before for their eyes grew wide and had already admitted defeat. I unloaded two rounds, both hitting their targets in the forehead. They fell as I ran past them towards the open door that now had shouting coming from it. Another man stepped out into the hallway with a shotgun and I unloaded two more rounds as I hit the floor avoiding his shot. The door that I had entered swung open and my free arm whipped out my pistol and aimed at a guard who had coming running to help. They fell down like flies and a swatter. I stepped into the doorway and froze, both pistols aimed at men with guns._

_ That's not what startled me though; the woman I was supposed to me rescuing was grinding a man like he was a bull ride, free of chains and bruises. I wanted to gag but pulled the triggers of my hand guns so that the only people left were the man, the whore, and me. The woman finally stopped and pouted as the man pushed her off of him and stood up, making himself decent. "Come in, girl," he coed softly, "There's nothing to fear, there's just been a bit of a misunderstanding. I'm aware that you are just following orders." I shut the door with my foot and stepped to the side of it regaining my composure and glaring at the man. "You see, Tatsuhiro just wants to steal Masami from me." I glanced over to the woman who glared at me unsatisfied._

_ "My apologies then, but orders are orders," I held both guns to his chest and face and pulled the triggers. He was at such a close range that blood splattered all over the room, the woman, and me. I turned to the girl, "Let's go."_

_ The woman nodded and grabbed her boots and jacket and went ahead of me. I escorted her all the way back to Tatsuhiro with ease and stood silently as they talked and rubbed up on each other. The woman really was a slut. I noticed them grin and look over to me. My body ached, remembering a similar look Tatsuhiro had given me just a few months before. The woman came back up to me and extended her hand, "I would like to properly thank you for helping me get back to Tatsuhiro. Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?" I looked over to Tatsuhiro who nodded and left. That nod meant it was a must._

_ I looked up at the woman and swiped her hand away, "There's no need to baby me with childish words, woman. You have something planned so just do it already; I have school in the morning." With that she laid me out on my back and started tearing off my clothes._

* * *

Freedom.

I sped down the highway in a new Nissan 280ZX. It was black with leather black interior. This is kind of hard to explain seeing as I'm not too entirely sure how it happened myself. After Yusuke defeated the Four Saint Beasts, the town turned back to normal fairly quick and no one seemed to act like it had happened at all. A few days later my mom showed up and demanded I come with her to get my license; believe me, I was just as confused as you are. The ride to the place was awkward and silent, I tried to ask her why but she didn't answer. After they printed out my license I followed my mother back into the parking lot and she handed me a set of keys.

_"Think of this as my best attempt at an apology," my mother fought with great effort to say._

_ I took the keys and looked back up at her, "This car?" I pointed to a black Nissan that was parked next to us and she nodded. "Why?"_

_ My mother leaned up against her own car, "The funny thing is; I was escorting one of my clients the other day in downtown and the traffic came to a complete halt. It sounded like a pretty bad car wreck so I got out of my car to get a better look and I saw this girl who looked a lot like you fighting off these violent thugs. Seeing that girl made me start to think a lot about how I've treated you and your sister so I decided to start by making it easier to make amends. You and Neema can come up and visit any time, just give me a heads up."_

The car is pretty sweet. And did I mention it was new? The stereo was awesome. I turned on the rock station and ACDC started blasting in the car. I felt a wave of shock and terror when she had told me she saw me fighting the zombies a few days before, but she seemed rather neutral to the whole thing; which is also weird. I guess she's used to her idea of me being a delinquent so this incident just reinforced that idea.

As I fled down the highway, I rubbed my shoulder that had started to burn again. The muscle was still sore from the night Kurama pulled his little vampire trick. He wasn't very informative after the ordeal either. He told me what little he had to say the next morning on the school roof.

_"I wasn't able to track down who ever implanted the device," He admitted roughly, "Their tracks were well covered."_

_ "So what do we do?" I pressed concerned._

_ "I'm working on it," he replied shortly._

_ I sighed and leaned against the fence trying to recall anything that might be helpful. However, when I tried, the details my mind kept going back to where when he bit me; my hair twisted tight around his hand, his other hand pressing my body into his, his hair brushing against my face, his teeth sinking into my neck._

_ "And that was honestly the best way to fight off the venom?!" I growled not sure why it had started to work me up._

_ He chuckled behind his hand, "Well there were other, easier ways."_

_ "What?!"_

_ "I figured I'd been slacking in my efforts to mess with your head."_

_ "I think that qualifies as cruel and unusual," I groaned, "What possessed you to go with the vampire method?"_

_ "You're definitely the type to have that vampire fantasy so I figured I'd fulfill it," he teased with a huge grin that was hiding more laughter. I gave him a look that he could tell was meant to say "I _will_ toss your ass over this building" and he giggled himself inside._

I exited the interstate and drove down Eighth Street. A man ran out into the street and I slammed on my breaks. I looked up at the man who was gawking at me. "Kuwabara!"

"Oh! Hey, Rhea!" He greeted with a grin while rubbing the back of his neck, "Sweet ride!"

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" I hissed from the adrenaline that was shooting through my body.

"I'm going to save my true love!" He yelled back.

"Um… what?" I blinked confused, "Fuck it. Get in the car, the light's about to turn green." He ran to the passenger's side and got in. As I drove my new car to Kuwabara's place, he filled me in on Yusuke's newest mission to rescue the ice maiden, Yukina.

"Whoa!" Yusuke exclaimed as he and Botan met us outside, "Where the hell did you get _that_?!"

"My mother," I replied brokenly, noting how awkward that sounded and felt on my lips.

"Your mom must be loaded!"

"She is," I replied shortly.

"You've got to be the luckiest person alive," Kuwabara chimed in.

"That's what I was thinking before your stupid ass jumped into the street."

"Hey!" Kuwabara's voice cracked.

I ignored him and turned to Yusuke and Botan, "Hey, Yusuke."

"Yeah?"

"Can I go on that mission too?" I asked as casually as I could.

"Sure! The more the merrier!" he replied eying my car.

"It's a two-seater."

"Damn."

"We can go on a joy ride when we get back," I offered.

"Woo-hoo! Let's go save Yukina!" Yusuke cheered and took off, Kuwabara following shortly behind him.

"Boys," Botan sighed as I laughed.

* * *

We got off the bus and stared out over the forest. "Wow, now _this_ is a big waste of space," Yusuke commented.

"You know, Yusuke, some people _like_ the wilderness," Botan retorted.

"Yeah, old hermits and people who don't know how to talk to girls," Yusuke joked.

"Or people who just hate everyone in general," I threw in.

Kuwabara started walking into the forest. "Hey! Where are you going?" Yusuke shouted after him. We looked at each other and then silently agreed to follow him. We walked for a while before Yusuke started whining again. "This place smells like ass!" The boys stopped and surveyed the area. "You know, there's no way we're gonna find this house by nightfall," he groaned.

"The forest looked a lot smaller on the map," Kuwabara put in his two cents.

Botan and I stopped at the top of the hill. "Come on, boys! The other trail goes all the way to the top. I think it's our best bet," Botan called down to them.

"Do we still have to walk?" Yusuke deadpanned.

"Let's go, Urameshi!" Kuwabara exclaimed and ran towards us. "Wait for me, Yukina! Your true love is coming!" I laughed as Yusuke caught up and we watched Kuwabara sprint down the trail.

"I guess he's done being in love with you, Botan," Yusuke teased.

"Darn," Botan replied sarcastically.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Kuwabara shouted back to us waving his hands wildly, "We got a girl to rescue!"

"Shouldn't we tell him about the rest of the video?" Botan asked.

"I'd hate to ruin his fun," Yusuke joked some more.

"What's on the rest of the video?" I asked innocently.

Botan leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Yukina is Hiei's long lost sister."

I felt my eyes widen, "That doesn't sound good."

"That's why we have to rescue her before Hiei finds out," Botan continued in a normal voice.

"Well then I'd hate to break the bad news, but he probably already knows," I replied grimly. Botan and Yusuke turned back to me. I loosely pointed a finger to my temple, "He can read our minds, remember?"

Botan made some terrified noise, "I forgot."

"Guess that means we should hurry," Yusuke turned and continued on. We followed the trail for a while with Kuwabara leading a few yards ahead of us. Out of nowhere he stopped in his tacks; I felt a presence approach, probably the same for him. "What's wrong, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"I'm sensing something really bad," he replied as Botan's watch started beeping.

"The compass is going crazy," she relayed.

"Yeah, well I think I see him," Yusuke replied sarcastically as a man in a suite and sunglasses stopped before us. "Hey, how's it going neighbor?"

"You're on private property boys and girls," the stranger spoke coolly. "You had better leave."

"We can't leave, we just got here," Kuwabara retorted teasingly.

"Yeah, we're lost and the bird ate our bread crumbs," Yusuke added.

"Pretty please, let us stay at your master's house," Botan pleaded innocently.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," the man replied.

"Come on, we know he's got plenty of room," Kuwabara continued.

"That's right, those crime lords always have really swank houses," Yusuke added sarcastically.

"Crime lord? You seem to know a lot for being lost," the man played along. "You had your chance!" the man's clothes ripped to shreds as he morphed into a green demon with tentacle legs and a pointy snout. He started to laugh, "I'll have to make you leave myself, but I'm afraid I'm very clumsy." A vagina-mouth opened on his chest and miniature ones on the palms of his hands. _When did we fall into some fucked up tentacle porn?_

"He's not very good at puns, is he?" I joked to the side.

"What I touch always ends up getting killed," he continued, "I don't know why they keep on making me the security guard."

"You're a demon hired by Tarukane, right? Kuwabara asked tensely.

"That's very perceptive of you; and I have orders to kill anyone who comes after Yukina," he answered. _That's what this guy considers perceptive?_ I mentally deadpanned.

"Well that girl is a type of demon, right?" Yusuke questioned. "So doesn't that make you cousins or something?"

"Your own kind is being tortured so that no good human can make money. Doesn't that piss you off?" Kuwabara continued.

"Not at all," the demon replied coolly.

"What?!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

The demon raised his arms up, "It is said that humans will sell their soul to the devil, right? D—"

I leapt forward and planted my fist into his jaw, "Wasting my time," I muttered as I walked over the demon and continued down the path. I knew I hadn't finished him; I just wanted him to shut the fuck up.

The demon started to rise facing my back, "Oh, you will regret this," the demon growled and leapt up into the air.

"Are you ready?" Kuwabara asked.

"Sure," Yusuke replied.

"Spirit Sword!" I heard Kuwabara shout and turned to watch him jump up and slash the demon in midair a few times.

Yusuke nonchalantly aimed, "Spirit Gun!" and fired completely obliterating the demon. "And here I was thinking they'd make it easy for us, huh, Kuwabara?" he continued sarcastically.

"Yeah," he replied with a hint of a chuckle.

_Man, why can't I do stuff like that?_ I complained only to myself.

Yusuke groaned, "Now where do we go?" the path ended where we stood. "Kind of stupid to have a mountain trail end half way up the mountain, huh? I guess they don't encourage much camping around here."

"Yes, the stronghold is very well hidden," Botan stuck strictly to business, "But we should be able to find it eventually by following Yukina's energy."

"Eh, why are you still using that compass? Just follow my way," Kuwabara jumped in. "The Red Pinky String!"

We all deadpanned.

"The what?" Botan asked.

"The moment I saw her, my love stretched out and tied us together," Kuwabara continued while waving his pinky around and then held it in a direction, "You see? Let's follow the thread of destiny tied to my love!" He laughed and ran off.

We wearily followed Kuwabara. "Hey, Yusuke?" I asked after a while of silence.

"What?" he replied grumpily.

"What was your training like?"

He looked back to me curiously, "What, Kurama's not kicking your ass hard enough?"

I sweatdropped, "No, he's kicking my ass hard enou—that just doesn't sound right."

Yusuke erupted into laughter, "Be grateful you aren't training under the old bitch."

"Old bitch?" I echoed.

"Yusuke! That's no way to talk about your elders!" Botan scolded.

"Why?" I ignored Botan.

"Let's just say it still gives me nightmares," Yusuke replied dryly also ignoring Botan.

"Oh."

"Hey, you guys!" Kuwabara slowed down to join the conversation, "Are you guys talking about training?"

"Yes, Kuwabara. How's your training coming?" Yusuke asked, preparing to crack jokes at him.

"Not too bad. I've kind of hit a plateau. Although, I taught myself how to make a butter knife the other day when we ran out and I needed one!" he replied. Yusuke snickered.

I pushed Yusuke back before he could open his mouth and distract Kuwabara, "How do you usually train, Kuwabara?"

"By myself with dummies of Urameshi," he laughed, aiming the response towards Yusuke.

"You don't have some sort of mentor?" I questioned further.

"Nah, I almost beat Urameshi at Master Genkai's and became her apprentice but this stupid demon named Rando beat me in the semi-finals," Kuwabara explained.

"I see," I replied quietly.

"Why are you so curious about our training?" Yusuke asked.

I sighed, "No matter how hard I try, I can't get my power to work by my free will. My subconscious has to be alarmed of a life threatening situation."

"Jeez, Kurama must not be good at training people," Yusuke joked.

"I don't think that's quite it. All the other aspects have grown substantially. I can even identify the smallest traces of energy for miles."

"Wow! That's even better than mine!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Yeah, well my offensive is restricted to my firsts," I retorted.

"Wait a minute!" Botan chimed in, "Weren't you incinerating the Makai insects with your power last week?"

"Yes, you missed my retarded excitement when I realized I could do that," I shot back sadly. "It's like there's a thin sheet of ice enclosing my power inside of me. Kurama, Hiei, and I can't seem to break it though; believe me, I've almost died about a thousand times now trying to figure it out."

"Oh my god!" Kuwabara and Botan gasped.

"Wait," Yusuke interrupted, "You train with Hiei too?"

"Yes."

"Man, I have to get me one of those lessons. It sounds like fun! Do they spar each other?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I think Hiei's afraid of Kurama."

"What?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara cried.

"So, what does any of this have to do with how you guys are training?" Botan cut in.

I glared at her, "Nothing. I was just curious to see the differences."

"And they are?" she pressed.

"I mean, it really doesn't fucking matter. Yusuke goes through hell and gets more powerful; Kuwabara trains himself and gets more powerful. It seems to me, Kurama's training isn't the problem, it's me."

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself," Yusuke tried to cheer me up, "I didn't even ask to get more powerful, I was forced to go through that hell!"

I sighed and the conversation ended. We continued to follow Kuwabara who occasionally yelled out "Yukina!" Eventually he stopped and looked around then took off in another direction.

"Wait, Kuwabara!" Botan yelled after him, "It's this way!"

He stopped and looked back, "Yeah but I just got a really bad feeling. Let's go around."

"My compass says follow the path. We don't have time for detours," she started walking again.

I could sense something very close to us and saw a line of string shimmering in front of Botan as she walked towards it, "Wait, Botan!" She tripped over the wire and it wrapped around her ankle and dragged her up into the trees. "Retard," I deadpanned.

Yusuke ran after her but reacted too late, "Botan!" he called out.

We looked up to see her hanging upside down in a giant spider web. "Whoopsie," she offered sheepishly, "A little help?"

A gigantic spider revealed itself as Botan screamed in terror. "What a nice catch," the spider teased.

"Ooh, it's a spider this time," Yusuke joked as Kuwabara caught up to us. "Hey let her go!"

"Go?" the spider looked from Yusuke to Botan, "Now why would I let her go if I'm planning to drink her blood?" It looked back to Yusuke, "If you want to save her you have to come up and fight me in the evil spider's layer!" You could tell by the spider's words that it wasn't taking us seriously.

Kuwabara revealed his spirit sword, "Sorry to mess up your plan, but nobody is getting between Yukina and me!" He slashed at the spider web causing both Botan and the spider to fall. Yusuke ran to catch Botan as I stayed put to watch the boys in action. I've fought my fair share of lowly demons like this while Yusuke was going through his training ordeal.

"You can't possibly be human!" the spider cried out in shock.

"Yep," Yusuke replied shortly.

"We just happen to be really, really tough," Kuwabara added proudly.

"And Kuwabara gets the gold for lame taunt," I commented to the side. Botan giggled behind her hand.

* * *

**Well... here you go XD another chapter. So we obviously know we are coming to the end of the first season... saga... whatever fucked up half&half language you want to use. I haven't decided if I want to split the rest of this SEASON (I speak and write in English so forgive me for not being a wannabe weebo... two O's? I don't really give a fuck) into one or two chapters... probably two... that's really all I have to say... sorry this chapter was so boring XD **

**I know we've all seen this shit a hundred times on Toonami but it was necessary -.- and even if you haven't seen it on Toonami, this is the episode/s that they use their clips for YYH. In fact, it reminded me of those little snippets so much I had to stop, I was having flashbacks of my childhood XD**

**READ, REVIEW, FOLLOW & FAVORITE! I LOVE YOU ALL! :3**


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